The Ultimate Adventure: The Mobius Saga
by Dark Qiviut
Summary: A 13 year old boy has had a hard life, but a dream... and a Chaos Emerald changes his life forever. [Semi A.U., Semi Canon, On hiatus]
1. Mobius, Part I: The Chaos Emerald

_**Disclaimer:** Sonic the Hedgehog and all other canon characters are copyrighted and produced by Sega and Archie Comics. The plot and fancharacters that I created are the only things that belong to me, and no profit is or will be made in any way.  
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_**Author's Note: **Before I begin, I want to advise to you that Mobius will look entirely different from the Sonic shows, Sonic X, and the comics, so I advise that you ignore them. They have absolutely **nothing** to do with this fanfic. Don't rush to judgment, also; everything will be straightened out in the end.  
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_**Warnings and Fanfic Timeline: **This saga takes place following Sonic Heroes, and it is rated PG-13 for Violence, Blood, Mild Language, Child Abuse, and Alcohol/Weapon References.  
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**The Ultimate Adventure: The Mobius Saga**

**Mobius, Part I: The Chaos Emerald**

New York City was the home of many things. From Central Park and the Museum Mile in Manhattan, to Yankee Stadium and the Botanical Gardens in the Bronx, to the coastal beaches in south Brooklyn, to old Richmond Town in Staten Island, to the Airports and Shea Stadium in Queens. It was also the home of some of the tallest buildings and the greatest places in the world. There, the people explored and enjoyed some of the city's finest treasures. These were spots where families walked around, spent a lot of quality time, and had a lot of fun together.

Some families alsod live in luxury, as to this known family: the Halbery family. There, on the outskirts of the city lay a beautiful clean-swept mansion. The Halbery Mansion was as big as four football fields, the biggest mansion in the entire country. The structure was mind-boggling. The entrance had a huge and shadowy façade, with four poles that had long, fancy indents with huge flat supporters along the corners of the façade. The floor to the marble door had six steps that go around the entrance, with each step decreasing in size as it ascended to the door.

At the gate, in the middle of the cul-de-sac, there stood a glimmering fountain with the water coming out of a large platinum statue, in which there are three spouts, one from the marble cone, and the other two coming out of curved triangles that slanted off to the sides.

Along the sides of the outside entrance lied the body of the house. The body was structurally made of thick concrete with a special chemical that give it a bluish tint.

The right side of the mansion was huge in size and height. On the outside, twelve lengthy windows rowed along the mansion, in which white bars in the shape of an "X" stretched from all four corners of the rectangular windows. The roof contained a large golden dome, which had fancily-designed onyx lines that twirled like a DNA lance. The top of the dome had a small little cone-style bump and a flag pole with the American flag being blown in the wind.

The inside of the room, however, was where its beauty had been caught. Inside the dining room, there was a beautiful marble floor, with a couch that spread from wall to wall around the edges, and a gorgeous round table that had angels painted on the surface. Inside the dome hung a golden chandelier with seven layered levels of lights, with the biggest layer closest to the ceiling, and the smallest layer closest on the bottom.

Along the left side of the mansion, the wall had five circular windows that are spaced out like binoculars, with an indent that protruded outward. The windows were divided into sections, connected by steel bars in a shape of a circle.

The inside was about as beautiful as the dining room, but a lot bigger. The living room had a glass coffee table with copper frame-and-legs, along with chairs that had its wood polished and cushions spotless and new-looking. Along the wall spread a huge couch with blue fabric and pillows on them. Covering the floor was a wall-to-wall carpet that had the designs of all the seven continents and all the countries. On the other side of the room rested a huge antique ebony shelf with spotless silver handles on them, and on the wall hung a large platinum flat-screen high-definition television.

Then, right between the two conference rooms stood the luxurious lobby. The walls were painted in blue-grey, with the ceiling in pearl-white paint, and the floor covered in a red-and-purple striped carpet. On the ceiling, there stood a dome-like bump that was covered in copper polish, and a chandelier hung inside the copper dome. Finally, split halfway in the hallway was a marble stairwell with wooden bars and rail all covered with white paint and smoothed out with polish.

It was the perfect life for a family. Living in a nice, big house, with everything you can dream of. It was like a paradise. Nothing bad can come out of it, can it?

"ALEXANDER HALBERY! GET UP HERE NOW!"

Yes, it can. On the right side of the lobby, a door, camouflaged in the shadows of the stairwell, opened, and out came a four-foot eleven-inch boy of thirteen years old. His name was Alexander Halbery.

Alexander was very much scarred from head to toe. His untidy, greasy dirty-blonde hair contained burnt marks in various spots on his scalp; his face all covered in bruises. His grey shirt was so oversized that it sometimes slipped off his shoulders and down his arms, exposing the skeleton outline and whip marks on his collar. His black jeans were very loose and very much oversized, to which it was dragging along the floor behind him. It was so huge, not even a leather pant belt could help it stay on.

After hearing a woman shout for his assistance, Alexander walked up the marble stairwell and turned left and down a very brightly-lit hallway, with fancy candle-shaped lights hanging upside-down on the white ceiling. Alexander walked just a few steps and gave a knock on the wide eight by thirteen foot door.

"Come in, you bum," shrieked the woman voice in a Turkish accent.

Alexander opened the door and went inside. Inside the room, there was a huge closet with fancy shirts, tuxedos, pants, jackets, and hats hanging neatly on the coat racks. Left of it rested a huge dresser with fine polished wood and there were four drawers with two gold-polished handles on each of them. On its tabletop was a collection of perfume and cologne in which they were placed carefully and neatly. Over it was a large wall-to-wall square mirror with an ebony-wood frame on it. On its right was a huge sliding glass door, currently open, which lead to the balcony outside. The balcony was spacious and very gracious. Marble tiles glazed its reflection off the sun, and high thick wooden rails encircled the balcony's perimeter and eave to the mansion. In the dark left-hand corner nearby the glass door was a folded oversized beach chair, which had been scrubbed and washed. In the middle of the balcony, there was a beach chair completely unfolded, along with a glass balcony table aside it, and a glass of beer resting on the tabletop.

Alexander walked up to the huge double-king-sized bed in front of him and stared down the woman with utter disgust. "Yes?" he asked to her.

The woman, known as Carddall Halbery, was a very beefy and very rude woman. She had no job, rarely got out of bed except for special services, and rarely took a bath. She had a very beefy face and wore a very tight red dress. Her long black hair was tied tightly in spindles. Her face was breaking out persistently; and her mouth looked so small from the fat that drooped off her cheeks that it looked like she sometimes _inhaled_ her food.

Speaking of food, Carddall was eating her chicken as though she had fasted earlier that day, and she ate very sloppily. Lots and lots of chicken grease dripped down her broken-down face and onto her ruby-colored dress, in which it continued down her big chest, glutted stomach, and onto the stainless steel tray.

"Go to the kitchen and cook me some more chicken, Alex!" ordered Carddall in a muffled, but sharp voice and pointed at the tray, which was covered with saliva-coated chicken.

Alexander stared down at the tray and grunted queasily, showing signs that he did not want to pick it up, but when a man, in a Turkish accent, shouted from the balcony, "DO WHAT SHE SAYS, SLAVE!", Alexander wasted no more time and picked up the saliva-filled tray.

"I'll be back to cook some more chicken, Carddall," said Alexander and was about to walk through the door when the man's voice bellowed from the balcony again.

"Come here, young man," the man ordered and chimed the cup with a metal spoon.

Alexander decided not to ignore his orders and walked through the open glass doors and onto the balcony. When he walked up to the chair, he looked down at the man relaxing on it. "Yes, Mannato?" he said, trying to keep his agitation buried internally.

Mannato Halbery, Carddall's husband, was lazy, carefree, and vain. He almost never left his old comfortable beach chair and he always combed his shiny black hair, which he always used his hair spray, day _and_ night. He combed his hair so often that he was known as the Vain Man from all over town.

Mannato always wore fancy clothes. At the moment, he is currently wearing a white long-sleeve shirt, gray pants that matched his suit, which was hanging on the glass door handle, and his dark brown shoes had been shoe-shined.

He was always known for being very picky, especially if it comes to cleanliness. If he saw one speck of grime anywhere, from the marble floor, to the dresser, to his own suit, he would freak out and scream like a girl.

However, he was in a happy mood today, since he had yet to find a dirty spot anywhere in the house at the moment, but that was about to change.

"Alexander," said Mannato and snapped his fingers, "take this with you."

Alexander did just as he required and put the empty cup on the tray. As he walked back through the doors, he inadvertently bumped into his suit, making a small grease spot on the collar.

Mannato heard the impact and turned around to see the speck on his shirt. Once he saw it, is face contorted to utter anger.

"ALEXANDEEEEEEEERRRRRR!" yelled Mannato ferociously. "GET BACK HERE NOOOOOWWWWW!"

Alexander, not knowing what happened, turned back to Mannato, holding his tray very tightly in his hand. "Yes, sir?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? _What's wrong?" _said Mannato squeakily, on the verge of exploding.

And that was exactly what he did. "YOU MADE A GREASE SPOT ON MY BRAND NEW SUIT!" he roared and pointed at the suit on the handle.

Alexander walked up to the suit and took a look at the grease spot on Mannato's suit collar. "So what? I can wash it off," he said casually.

"SO WHAT?" he roared. "THIS SPECIFIC SUIT WAS TO BE USED TONIGHT, YOU NUMBSKULL! NOW, I CAN'T GO TO THE PARTY THAT I'VE BEEN DYING TO GO TO FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS!"

"Well, then, use another suit," said Alexander. "You have plenty of them in your closet," and he made a head motion to point all the suits and various clothes hanging on the racks.

"WHO SAID YOU CAN TELL ME WHAT TO DO?" Mannato roared, now throwing a temper tantrum.

"I'm not," said Alexander, ignoring the outburst. "I'm just givin' you ideas," and, with the tray in hand, he walked through the glass doors and closed the bedroom door behind him, leaving a trail of Mannato's obnoxious slurs in his wake.

Alexander walked down the stairs, through the dining room, through a naked doorway, and into the kitchen.

The kitchen was just like the two conference rooms: spotless and neat. On the door side, there was a huge refrigerator and freezer, with every genre of food put together in orderly fashion. Right beside it is the slate kitchen counter mixed with quartz minerals, which gave the counter some sort of romantic swirl. In the middle is the stainless steel sink with a stainless steel water faucet and soda fountain. Nearest to the wall is a huge dishwasher, for which had been cleaned so well, it looked like it was brand new. Along the walls are long wooden shelves in which all the pots, pans, skillets, and strainers were placed in orderly fashion, from big to small.

On the right-hand side, nearest to the wall was the stove, cleaned and scrubbed from top to bottom; the four grills cleansed and shined with no burnt or rusty spots on them; the oven scrubbed down with like it used a lot of elbow grease. Right next to it are all the meat knives, in which they are face-down and placed in size-order, from the smallest to the biggest. Facing the doorway, hanging on the wall, are huge cabinets in which the bowls, cups, glasses, and plates were placed and positioned neatly on each of the four shelves. And underneath the countertop is a huge drawer with all the butter knives, spoons, and forks cleaned and placed in the right order.

Alexander walked up to the garbage bin beside the oven and dumped all the chicken in it before putting that and the cup in the dishwasher.

"Oh, well," muttered Alexander as he closed the dishwasher and turned it on, "I'm gonna get yelled at by Mannato anyway."

And as if he could read people's minds, Mannato let out a loud girlish scream that echoed and reverberated off the walls. Alexander ignored it and went on to cook the chicken that Carddall requested.

* * *

He was freed him from duty at around ten o'clock that night, and Alexander quickly ran to the kitchen to make a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Then, he walked through the dining room and turned right back to his bedroom door, which was still shadowed thanks to the stairwell. 

When he opened the door, he walked in and inside, his bedroom was almost barren and ragged. On the left side of the door was an old dresser. The tabletop was scratched and splintered, while the legs were weathered agedly. Alexander believed that, one day, that dresser will collapse.

On the wall next to it, there lied his clothes, which were all piled up in a corner. They smelled so badly, not even flies wanted to go near it. To prove how bad they smelled, three months earlier, Alexander tried to sneak them into the laundry room, but Carddall and Mannato caught him and punished him. Now, the laundry room was off-limits to him.

The other side of the room was extremely empty. There was nothing there, except an old dresser that Alexander hand-polished and smoothed out with sandpaper. There, the dresser had strange carved lines that curled up its legs and meet in the center, which spun like a spiral. Hanging right over it is a thin black curtain that had the designs of flower petals dancing all around it. On the right side of the curtain, there hung a lever in which once it's been pulled down, the curtain will roll up like window blinds.

Opposite it, there was a bed with shiny golden bars that twirled and bound together, steel stubby legs on the corners. The back of the room was very stark, with a golden coat rack that stretched from the bed to the wall. It was complete empty if you discount a black spring jacket hanging right by the wall.

Alexander walked by the scratched-up desk and up to the fancy dresser opposite from his bed and pulled down the lever. As he pulled it, the curtain started to roll up slowly, but surely. There, Alexander kept pulling and pulling and pulling. When he finished, he put the lever in a knot and tied it around a bar. What was behind the curtain was a huge portrait with a black background. There, sitting on a wooden chair, cross-legged, was a woman in her twenties. She had long black hair, a face that was smooth as silk, golden earrings, a ruby red dress with a white cuffed hem on the bottom of the dress, and black high-heel slippers. Standing over her on her right was a man at around the same age holding her hand. He wore a black top hat, an indigo suit with a white necktie, indigo pants that matched his suit, and black shoes.

On the bottom of the frame, there bolted on the wall were two plates with an inward curve on each corner. On the left, under the man, the plate was gold and it had these words in ancient-style Italic letters.

_"__Veipher Halbery: January 4, 1963 to September 30, 1993."_

Right next it was a silver plate with the same design and same font, but this one was under the woman.

_"__Lilac Halbery: August 7, 1962 to September 30, 1993."_

Alexander stared at the portrait and sighed sadly, trying to hold his tears back. Lilac and Veipher were Alexander's own parents.

On the top of the dresser, there were six platinum plates in which they stood upward because of the supporters on the back. These plates had these words on them, with one name on each.

_"Viktor Halbery."_

_"Stephan Halbery."_

_"Alexander Halbery."_

_"Vanessa Halbery."_

_"Jennifer Halbery."_

_"Vicky Halbery."_

Alexander took one glance at the plates and started to shed some tears. _"I wish you were all still here," _he thought. Why did he think of that? They were all siblings, with the oldest child, Viktor, on the left, and the youngest, Vicky, on the right.

Alexander used to have a very nice family. His siblings, Viktor, Stephan, Jennifer, Vicky, Vanessa, and Alexander himself, were the children of the famous Lilac and Veipher Halbery. They were a great family, with no problems and no sadness. They were known as the happiest family in the world. As time went by, everyone thought that Lilac, Veipher, and their children, were going to be the happiest and most graceful family of all time.

No one thought about that more than Alexander. He had told his parents and siblings many, many times, but stopped after they got annoyed about it. However, that did not stop him from thinking about it.

That all changed on September 30, 1993, when his entire family was gone in a snap. Afterwards, Carddall and Mannato moved in and, according to a will, became his guardian. However, they did not care about Alexander or anyone else; they only cared about themselves. On many occasions, they mocked him about the family that he no longer had and that he was nothing, but a little dishrag to their own kind. Alexander never really believed any of that verbal abuse, but later in time, the two used him as a scapegoat, saying that _he_ was the reason he no longer had his parents or his siblings. He kept fighting back that personal attack, but when they started to assault him physically, it became too much for him to handle that he later accepted defeat and became their personal "slave_"_ to him.

Alexander stared at the portrait and plates for about 45 minutes, but grief and sorrow overcame him and he withdrew the rope and positioned the curtain to where it was right behind the artifacts.

After smoothing it out, Alexander climbed in his bed and put his hands behind his head, thinking, wondering what would happen if he would be able to avenge for the family that he had lost.

_"__Mom, Dad, sibs, I hope that one day, I can prove that I can do things right again,__"_ Alex thought sadly and sighed before going to sleep, hoping that he would, someday, accomplish this dream and accomplish what he wanted to do.

What he did not realize was that his luck was about to change and change for the better.

* * *

New York City was now still, quiet, and dark, something that does not really happen in the city. The streets were barren; the parks as silent as a whisper. Almost no lights were on in the buildings; people were in these high-rise apartments, sleeping, dreaming, and hoping that their dreams would come true. Party-going adults walked around Time Square to gather last minute shopping. The buses roared downtown into the village; the trains clattered down the lines one final time for the night. Taxis gathered weary people in need of a ride, and the street lights were now only specks from an airplane's point of view. It got so dark no one could tell which place ended and another one began. It was now completely camouflaged in the deep blackness of the night. 

In about a few minutes, it would not be that way.

At around 2 o'clock in the morning, the midnight sky suddenly flashed like a camera taking a picture. Above the Atlantic Ocean, two balls of light, one sky blue, the other yellow, fell out of the sky and showered down onto the surface.

However, halfway through its fall, the two balls hit an airplane wing and took off in different directions. The sky blue ball landed in the bushes of a yard near a huge mansion, while the other landed into the sea.

Afterwards, everything returned to normal, with everyone hoping that this bizarre event would not cause a chain reaction. What they did not know was that things were just beginning…

**_CRASH!  
_**

…Because suddenly, something crashed into the pier in Downtown Manhattan, creating a huge dust cloud that fogged the lower west side of the island. The crash was so loud, that it came at such brute force, everyone nearly fell out of their beds.

What happened next was pandemonium. The people issued emergencies of a possible explosion. Panic rose throughout the city. Bridges shut down; late-night flights were cancelled; traffic halted everywhere; the late-night stores closed in record time.

When the cops heard about this, several police cars went out of the police stations and raced down the barren streets, the sirens blaring, the warning lights rotating like a top, in hopes of investigating the cause of all this chaos.

"Attention, attention, we're approaching the Hudson Pier!" the sergeant called through his radio.

_"__Copy that!" _a policewoman's voice replied back.

The cop cars blared down Broadway and turned west on 23rd street. As they drove, the cops began to notice something very eerie.

_"__What's happened? I can't see!"_ cried a policeman through the sergeant's radio.

All the cars drove right into the huge, thick dust cloud, and there was bound to be trouble. With the cloud blinding the cops' visions, several of them that trailed behind the sergeant crashed into poles, bus stops, fire hydrants, or parked cars on the curb. While the crashed cars were being taken care of by the trailing policemen, the three police cars that were in the lead continued onward.

The cars continued blaring cross-town until they noticed they noticed a green street sign that said "12 Av" on the street lamp. It was through the thick cloud, but it was transparent enough for the cops to see it.

"Attention, attention!" roared the sergeant through the radio. "We have just arrived at the pier, over!"

The radio was silent for only a few moments, when it returned with a blare. _"Copy that," _said a woman's voice.

The three cars went to a complete stop, and six policemen, with surgery masks and flashlights equipped with them, climbed out of the cars and went to the area to where the crash came.

"I can't see through this fog," coughed a male officer as dust clouded his eyesight.

"Yeah," a different female officer wheezed as she tried to shield her eyes from the dust. "And it's very stuffy, too."

"The next time we're on duty," growled a scruffy male's gruff voice, his bulky form invisible from inside the dust cloud, "we'll bring our gas masks."

"Wait!" called the Sergeant suddenly, and everyone held their ground.

"What is it?" said a third female voice.

"I think we can make out what is inside in this cloud."

And he was right: Slowly, but surely, the cloud evaporated into the sky and in its place was a small office house. It had a red shingled roof that curved inward, a khaki body structure, small windows in the front of the house, and a brown turnstile gate at its entrance. However, everything inside was pitch black, which caught the officers' interests, especially the sergeant's.

"Let's take a look," said the sergeant sharply as he and the others walked inside.

With their flashlights on, they crept up the small stairwell and walked through the turnstile. Inside the office was what it looked like from the outside: pitch black. No one could see their hands in front of faces. Heck, it was so dark not even the flashlights were able to brighten up the surroundings.

"Darn! It's dark in here!" one of the women screeched suddenly.

"Yeah!" growled the scruffy male. "Where a stinkin' light where you need one?"

The sergeant was about to reply, but someone else did it for him.

"I don't think that will be necessary," interrupted a mysterious male voice from out of nowhere.

All six officers jumped. They didn't quite expect someone else to be inside. Yet, this office just popped up out of nowhere, creating havoc in the city, so, there _should _be something lurking by.

"Who said that?" whimpered one of the three females.

"I did," said the voice again, and what everyone saw made them jump. Big yellow slanted eyes peered onto the six, glaring at them ominously.

"Aaaarrgghhh!" screamed the females and ran out of the office faster than they had never run before.

"Hey! Come back here, worrywarts!" roared the sergeant, but they were long gone.

"I think those _worrywarts_ aren't the ones you need to be worried about," said the monotonous voice, his big yellow eyes glowering dangerously at them.

"What do you mean?" a male voice said frighteningly.

"He means me," squeaked a high-pitched male voice, his big orange oval eyes blinking at the three males. "And me," he said again, but this time, from the other side of the dark room. "And me!" he squeaked from behind the scruffy man's neck.

"Grr! Why you…" he roared and swung at the orange-eyed figure, but he zoomed out of the way so fast that a sound of buzzing from his wings echoed the room.

"Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, NAH!" taunted the squeaky figure from behind his neck and blew a raspberry at him.

The man got so furious and so embarrassed at the hands of the troublemaker that threw his fist at him with all his might. He missed the figure again as he zoomed out of the way…

_**POW!**_

"YEOW!"_**  
**_

...But he did _not_ miss the sergeant.

"YOU COMPLETE _IDIOT! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING!"_

"Oops, sorry, Serge," whimpered the gruff man, but their argument was to be spared for the time being as the orange-eyed troublemaker created more chaos.

"I think you missed me!" he sang again and buzzed around the three, driving them insane.

"Great," said the sergeant with a groan. "First, we got a yellow-eye _monster_ come here and surprise us. Second, my group of worrywarts left us to dry. Then, I got clocked in the nose. And now, THIS ZOOMING ORANGE-EYED _FREAK _IS DRIVING US CRAZY! WHAT ELSE IS GONNA HAPPEN NEXT?"

The sergeant would soon find out.

"I think you're looking at him," said a gruff male voice, but it was a little higher than the one from the officer's. Suddenly, his eyes opened, and glared his half-oval red-orange irises at the three. "And I think you've been in my home a little too long," he added and they could hear his knuckles cracking.

"Espio, Charmy, let me take care of this," he finished firmly as his knuckles cracked even louder.

The ones with the yellow and orange eyes complied and disappeared into the dark, knowing exactly what would happen next…

_**POW-POW! POW-POW! POW-POW!**_

With two punches each, the officers were thrown through the gates and onto the doorstep, completely battered and bruised.

"And don't even _think _of coming back here again!" the male voice warned sharply and pointed his large arm at them threateningly. Afterwards, he disappeared in the dark.

As for the officers, they wasted absolutely no time as they scurried off into their cars and drove off.

Once they were all gone, all three males suddenly broke into hysterical laughter.

"Man… I never had… this much fun… since that dark whirlpool case!" said the gruff voice between laughs.

"Yeah… I remember that!" laughed the squeaky male between breaths.

"And do you know _who _was the person that got stuck in that washing machine?" the monotonous voice said crossly, not in very high spirits anymore.

"Oh, come on, Espio!" said the squeaky voice and zoomed around the yellow-eyed figure. "Lighten up!"

"I _am _lightened up here," Espio finished sharply.

"All right, all right, quit your arguing here," said the gruff voice and turned on the lights.

There, sitting on a black computer chair was a green crocodile. His body was very bulky and very strong. He had red spikes down his back all the way to the tip of his strong tail. His khaki-colored arms contained metal cuffs on his shoulders, black wristbands with a beige stripe on each of his wrists, and gigantic white gloves on each hand. His scales overlapped on his front part of his body that trailed down to his tail; short stubby legs were crisscrossed on the dresser. His feet had black tennis shoes with a grey sole, a grey hem on his ankles, and a tongue with a silver hem on each of them. His huge crocodile snout had two pits on the tip, huge square surround-sound headphones over his ears, and around his bulky neck was a shiny gold chain.

Another thing about the gruffy green reptile… was that he was very excited.

"Besides, it's time to begin a new era of the Chaotix Detective Agency!" he cheered and pumped his fist high into the air, narrowly missing the ceiling fan above him.

"What do you mean by that, Vector?" asked Espio dully, who was leaning on one of the lockers, his eyes closed while meditating.

The violet chameleon had slanted yellow eyes that curved downward towards his beige muzzle, a yellow horn protruding in the middle. He had a violet chameleon-shaped head, with three slanted triangles, one on each side and the other on the top of his head. His purple body had three black spikes down his back, and a beige belly with a little point that went downward. His long tail curled upward like a monkey's prehensile tail, resting itself on the locker without any muscle damage. He had long legs, which had black anklets with a grey center, ten golden buttons that connected the anklets, and deep rich violet shoes with a black frame on each foot and ankle. His arms had the same design, too, except they had a wrist guard with three gray vertical strands, followed by a dent on the top, which had a horizontal grey stripe. The gloves were also unique, but in a very special way. They were sparkling white, but on the top of the hand, it had a rich purple triangle pad with a grey outline on them.

"Well, what do we always do," said Charmy.

Charmy was a huge, hyperactive bee. He had a huge head, with orange oval eyes with an opening in the center, a black helmet that had a red bump on it, goggles stuck firmly on top of his helmet to make sure they wouldn't fall down in flight, huge yellow-and-black striped antennae the come out from the holes in the front of the helmet, followed by a beige muzzle and a long black nose. He wore a bright orange zippered jacket with a pin of a bee on the left side, the sleeves of his shirt cuffed high to his shoulders. He had tan arms, black wristbands, and white gloves on each hand. His legs were black and he had cupped black socks and his snow boots were white with a white zipper, except they had an orange top on each of them. His body had black and yellow stripes, and on his back are transparent blue wings that flap back and forth as fast as a hummingbird, followed a sharp black stinger as a tail.

"We hunt down the crooks and earn our money!" the oversized insect excaimed joyously and twirled around in a counterclockwise motion.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot," said Espio sarcastically and rolled his eyes, his tone is a gloomy drone.

"Now, now, here," said Vector soothingly, trying to stop the argument between his two workers. "We know we've gone off on the wrong foot since our last case. However, that doesn't mean we should stop it altogether."

"Oh, you mean after what happened at Eggman's air base when he escaped from our grasp?" said Espio and crossed his arms, his tone full of contempt.

He should know what happened, since he was there. About three months earlier, the three detectives, along with Shadow the Hedgehog, Rouge the Bat, Amy Rose, Big the Cat, the rebel robot named E-123: Omega, Cream the Rabbit, Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna defeated Eggman and Metal Sonic (Eggman's own robot and Sonic's cloned rival). However, Eggman snuck off the destroyed ship, leaving the Chaotix Detective Agency empty-handed. The three detectives had not forgotten about that ever since.

"The next time that slimeball tries to do that again, he'll get more than just a couple of stings!" yelled Charmy hyperactively as he zoomed around the office and sat on the radio, which was on Vector's paper-covered desk.

"Hey! Careful with it!" warned Vector and shooed Charmy off his radio.

"Sorry, Vec," apologized Charmy gloomily and hung his head, feeling greatly ashamed of himself.

"No worries, kid," said Vector with a shrug as Charmy flew off, his usual happiness returning. Afterwards, things got very quiet as Espio and Charmy quickly got bored and did some meditating.

Meanwhile, the relaxing crocodile was not relaxed at all. Vector, who was known for being calm and carefree, was exactly the opposite as his mind buzzed with questions. _"With these cops coming into the office, I wonder where we are exactly," _he thought. Then, he looked at Charmy, who was now sitting yoga-style on a tall lamp in the corner of the office. _"And I think he could give me some help."_

After clearing his throat, he called his comrade forth. "Charmy!"

The bee immediately shot up and flew down to the desk to face Vector. "Yes?"

"Go zoom around the city to see where we are."

"Aye-aye, _mon capitan!" _promised Charmy and saluted before flying out of the office to explore the city.

Afterwards, everything went deadly quiet (once again) as Vector and Espio started cleaning up the office. For Espio, he took out a feather duster and cleaned out the lockers, which were foggy thanks to the dust. There, he cleaned the lockers up and picked up his stack of shuriken stars, which were cluttered all over the wooden floor. For Vector, he went to pile up all the papers on his desk, before placing his notes on the bulletin board, which were in a huge pile behind his computer chair. Then, he went to the water dispenser and placed it right-side up before drying up the floor with a mop.

Both kept on cleaning for about two hours. Just as they finished, Charmy buzzed through the gate and into the office, a look of desperation on his face.

"What is it, Charmy?" asked Vector as he sat back down behind his desk.

"Vector," said Charmy calmly, but he would not be calm for long. "CHAOS CONTROL TRANSPORTED US OUT OF MOBIUS!"

Espio, who went back to do some meditating, became wide-eyed and turned to the frantic bee. "We're not in Mobius anymore?" he spluttered as he approached the flying insect.

"Yes. Come look outside," said Charmy and buzzed outside, his two comrades following him.

"Take a look at all the buildings here," said Charmy and pointed at all the skyscrapers in the distance.

Vector and Espio gawked at the sight of the skyline. Instead a beautiful countryside with all the sparkling water, fresh air, and several moons that romanticized the marvelous sky, they were now in a very busy city with dirty rivers, rowdy people, and cars that honked like crazy.

"Vector?" said Espio from Vector's left.

"Yes?" Vector queried and looked at the violet chameleon directly in the eye.

"It looks like we're all trapped here."

"Oh," said Vector sadly and sighed. Now, the three were stranded in the city, and, without a Chaos Emerald (whatever that was), they would not be able to get back home. For the first time in his life, Vector felt lost.

"What d'ya we do now, Vector?" asked Charmy pleadingly.

"I don't know, Charmy," said Vector, but quickly thought of something and cracked a huge grin. "But I do know what we can do while we're here, though."

"And that is?" asked Espio, his eyes closed and arms crossed.

"Solve cases, of course!"

"Now?" grumbled Charmy as he sank into the ground.

The quip led to a chain reaction from Vector collapsing to the ground in indignation, to Espio slapping his forehead, shaking his head, and humming three short notes of disapproval.

"No, silly! Tomorrow!" Vector answered as he got up.

"Oh," said Charmy and looked down, trying to hide his blush. Espio, meanwhile, cracked a small chuckle from the scene.

"It's okay," said Vector and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "We've been through a lot these past few hours. Let's go to sleep," he finished with a wide yawn.

"Good idea," yawned Charmy and fell asleep on the asphalt.

Vector chuckled and picked up the tired bee. After acknowledging to Espio about calling it a night, the chameleon nodded and walked inside.

Vector, with a sleeping Charmy in his arms, was about to walk inside, when he gazed at the full moon above him and began thinking about his friends back on his home planet. _"I hope you guys are doing better than the rest of us," _he thought before going through the gates.

* * *

Meanwhile, there was another world, a world similar to Earth. However, there are a lot of differences. Firstly, it was mostly quiet and that the planet contained mostly wildlife rather than cities, people, or huge skyscrapers. 

Secondly, several moons orbited the planet, eight of them to be exact. At the moment, a huge green moon orbited the nighttime sky. It had dark green patches that went diagonal, with some brown pieces of land on the upper-left hand corner. Yellow-green lines stroke the center of the brown spots, along with dirty yellow upside-down "U" in the lower-right-hand side of the circular moon. The rest of the circle was solid green, along with its bright green aura which illuminated the black starry sky.

Thirdly, many spectacular treasures were to be found on this planet. High in the sky was a huge floating island. Underneath the floating island were huge stalactites of dirt, rock, and soil. There, the rocks looked a lot like big chocolate cones that hung upside-down. Many were big, many were small, some were just in between.

Meanwhile, on the surface side of the island, huge trees covered and hid most of the surface. North of the island lied a huge stretch of desert land along with a huge lake in the middle, known as the Sandopolis Reservoir. Right next to it stood the majestic Angel Mountain. There, the summit, known as Ice Cap Trail, glowed pearl white full of snow while the body shadowed into a baby blue color. The island was very peaceful and calm. With the bright green moon orbiting nearby, it seemed to blend in with the surroundings.

Inside the island, however, was where the ecosystem lied in. There, right nearby Angel Mountain, there was a commotion going on in the forest as several figures were hunting and exploring inside that area for any whereabouts for the thing they were searching for. Whatever it was, they were not having much luck.

"Jeez! Where is that Chaos Emerald?" grumbled a deep male voice as he looked on the ground and through a huge bushel of flowers.

The figure had purple slanted eyes in which glared darts at his opponents. His long seven dreadlocks wilted down his head and around to the area where his eyes met. His body was very buff and strong, with his chest bulging out like a soldier. On his back was a long tail which jolted up then back down like a lightning bolt. His legs were very long and very slender, with huge shoes and hard anklets on each foot and ankle. His arms, however, were his most potent weapons. They were as long as most of his body, and he had very huge gloves, more like boxing gloves, except with two spiked knuckles that popped out on the corner of each hand.

He continued looking through the bushel, but all that was left was a ton of loose soil that messed up the grass. The purple-eyed figure grunted loudly in frustration from this.

Suddenly, a blurred figure raced around the bend of a long and narrow path, up a stone staircase, and stopped short of the figure of purple eyes. "Any luck, Knuckles?" asked the mysterious creature teenaged male voice.

This figure looked much different than his counterpart. His eyes were huge and oval-shaped with an opening right in the center. His eyes were bright green, greener than the moon in the sky. On the top of his head were huge triangle-shaped ears that were about as big as his green irises. Along the back of his head are six long quills that curved down into upside-down "U's." Two quills curved down directly from the back of his head, while two quills lined up on each side of his head, overlapping the bigger quills from behind him. His body was very slender, but very strong. His back had two small quills that curved downward, one on each side of his spine. His tail curved upward into a crescent shape, sort of like a slanted smile. His legs were long and strong, needed for his running abilities. His socks were cuffed with a crease in the center, and he had slender running sneakers on each foot. His arms were as long as his midriff. He had gloves that cuffed along the crease, and he had normal-sized hands, a size that was not close to his dreadlocked fellow.

"Not one trace, Sonic," grumbled the purple-eyed silhouette as he got up. "This is strange. The Chaos Emerald was right here. I'm sure it's here."

"Maybe you looked in the wrong place, Knuckles," said a woman's voice mysteriously.

There, hovering above Sonic and Knuckles was a silhouette of a huge bat. Her head was bigger than her midriff. Her eyes were slit wryly, with only part of her teal eyes gazing down at the two, her eyelashes floating like a small wave in the ocean. She had huge bat-like ears on the top of her head, along with six bangs of hair on the back of her head. Her wings were large in length, in which they could cover her entire body. Her body had a very feminine shape, with her big chest to add some sex appeal into it. Her legs were very slender and very streaky, but strong and powerful. Her arms were very slender and feminine, and her tail was very short and stubby.

There, the female bat hovered over the two males, gazing at them confusingly and seductively, before veering slightly and perching herself on a tree branch nearby the bush. "Perhaps, it was in another area that you saw that glow," she said to the dreadlocked male.

"No, it was right here," said Knuckles persistently and gawked at the plant. "Something must've happened to it."

"Oh, well, at least Eggman didn't find it," enquired the teal-eyed bat.

"Yeah, Rouge, but what about his robots?" Sonic said.

"That would be impossible, Sonic," said a boy's voice as he approached the three.

There, walking around the bend of the path and up the stairwell was the black outline of a huge two-tailed fox. The fox had a huge square-shaped face, with four tuffs of fur coming out from each side. His eyes were huge and bat-like. His big blue eyes blinked and glittered in the star-lit sky, with three streaks of hair that flop just above them. His triangle-shaped pointed ears were huge in size as they protruded out from the top corners of his head, making him able to hear things very clearly. His body was very healthy and strong. His stomach had four tuffs of fur in which popped out from the side. His arms were long and slender, with gloves that were cuffed, along with a strap on each of his wrists in order to prevent the gloves from falling off. His legs were pretty stubby, with them only as long as his arms. The socks were cuffed along with a strap on them, too, along with thin sneakers on each foot. However, his most potent tool was right on his back. On his back, there are two huge fluffy tails, in which curved upward like a cat's tail in the air. How potent were those two tails, you asked? You will see…

"What do you mean, Tails?" asked Sonic to the two-tailed fox.

"I mean, Eggman has yet to launch a robot so far. Besides," he reached behind him and looked at a digital map, which had a blue screen and four buttons on the bottom, "we're high up in altitude. None of Eggman's robots can fly higher that about forty feet."

"Hmm, yeah, interesting," pondered Knuckles, his big right hand over his muzzle.

"But still," interrupted the bat, "Eggman would be bound to think of something in order to grab those Chaos Emeralds, right?"

"Perhaps," Tails shrugged as he put the digital map away.

"Well," said Sonic and pounded his right fist on his left palm, "wherever it is, we'll find it."

"Not me," said Knuckles as he backed away. "Remember, I got the Master Emerald to guard."

"C'mon, Knuckles," said Rouge. "What about the others? Should you help them…?"

However, a stern look on his face and a cough made her stop her sentence, as she realized what would happen if the Master Emerald shattered. "Oh, right. The island will plunge into the ocean."

"Yes, but I will help if you need it," Knuckles added.

"Thanks, Knux. We need that," said Tails.

"Yeah, but what about Shadow?" wondered Sonic as he gazed at the group with confusion.

"I'll look after him," promised Rouge.

"Well, it looks like it's back to the drawing board for the three of us," said Sonic. Then, he looked at Knuckles. "If you need us, give us a call."

"I'll do that."

Then, Sonic switched his attention to Tails. "C'mon, Tails. Let's go!"

"Roger that!" said Tails as he tied his two tails tightly like a helix. Then, with a fast motion, his tails jerked the opposite direction as his tails twirled like helicopter propellers.

Afterwards, Sonic and Tails scurried off down the path, while Knuckles jumped on a branch high up a tree and glided away.

Once the three left, only Rouge was there, and since she promised to look after Shadow, that was what she was going to do. With that, she flew off opposite where Knuckles went. As she was flying, she looked down and noticed the ground was blanketed with darkness, but that did not faze her since she can see in the dark better than the others. A few seconds later, her face had a look of calm and determination. However, there was more etched on her face that could not be seen. She also felt very remorseful for Shadow. Why was she feeling that way?

After a few minutes of flying, she noticed in front of her was a huge lake below her and quickly dove to the surface. The lake shined and sparkled from the stars. There, the trees cut off about twenty feet from the shoreline, with huge naked stretches of land that inclined downward into the water.

As she landed on the ground, there, sitting, crouching in front of her was the outline of a hedgehog. However, comparing to Sonic, there were a few differences. Along the sides of his head, the four side-quills, two on the left and two on the right, went downward then went upward, sort of like the shape of a boomerang. Also, the quills were not parallel to his head. They were spread out along outward like a delta on a lake. Secondly, his shoes were not that flat. The soles were huge with a metal outline on them, including an upward incline in the front. His socks and gloves had hard cuffs, including a ring and tongue on each of them. However, the biggest difference was how he acted. Shadow had red eyes, compared to Sonic's green eyes, and they looked distant and vague.

As a matter of fact, that was what Shadow had been for the past several months. He was dazed, confused, and bewildered. He sometimes did not where to go or what to do. And, sometimes, he did not even know who he actually was. In other words, he was just very lost. In many cases, he would just sit alone on the embankment and stare at his own reflection, wondering who he was and how he became this way.

That concerned Rouge greatly as she sighed and looked at her friend with an expression of sadness and remorse on her face. _"Don't worry, Shadow. You'__ll get your memory back," _she thought. _"You just need some more time, that's all."_

What she did not know was that back at the torn-up bush quite a few miles away, the plant glowed faintly, and a silhouette of a ladder protruded out from the plant. The only problem was that no one noticed it.

* * *

After a very eventful night, morning finally arrived in New York City. Unlike last night, the city and her people acted as if nothing ever happened. Cars rolled down city streets, the businesses opened for shoppers later that day, kids and their families walked to the parks to have a picnic later that afternoon, lawns being mowed by the landlords and house owners, and fishing boats were being prepared by the bay. 

However, Alexander never had that kind of fun; always stuck in the house day after day, with almost no food, almost no water, and_ no air conditioner. _However, this was something he wished he didn't have to do: mow the lawn on a 90-degree July day. He remembered the first time he did it: it was on an August day two years ago, and he sweated like a pig, especially being out there on a very hot 100-degree day with no clouds and no rain. He was dehydrated and was sunburned all over his body. In fact, he was burned so badly, he has not fully recovered from it. Every now and then, he would still feel the dryness on his shoulders and arms as the hem of his sleeves and collar irritated the skin. For Alex, he felt today would be the worst day of his life.

However, he was going to get a big surprise.

As he walked down the half-round steps under the façade wearing a long-sleeve shirt and heavy black pants, definitely not a perfect mix on a hot summer day, he put the lawn mower down on the grass and began mowing the lawn.

"Man, of all the days to be forced to do this job," muttered Alexander as he cut the grass adjacent to the walls of the mansion. Then, his muttering became sarcastic. "If they only lend me some water and sunscreen, I'd be fine, but _no, _they care only about themselves. I'd like them to see _them _workin' for a change and have me relax."

He should have not said that, because, just then, Mannato came from behind and whirled him around.

_**SMACK!**_

Then, he slapped him across the face so hard, he fell to the ground and hit his head on the thin grass.

"SHUT IT, YOU BUM!" roared Mannato as he messaged his red left hand. Then, he picked Alexander up by the throat and threw him hard into the wall, making him fall to the ground and loose consciousness.

Mannato looked down at the crumpled Alexander and smiled evilly from the sight. Afterwards, he picked Alexander's swollen body up and made him face Mannato by holding his chin tightly and painfully.

"You listen, and listen good," snarled Mannato as spittle flew right onto Alexander's black-and-blue face. "You ever say things like that again, you will receive the worst beating… of… your… life! _You understand that?"_

But Alexander was so sore he was not able to respond.

Mannato smiled satisfactorily at his own dirty work and spoke to him in mock kindness, "Good," at least for a moment, "GET BACK TO WORK!" And he threw Alexander hard on the ground and walked away.

As Mannato entered the house, Alexander regained consciousness and got up, feeling very stiff, sore, and weak. However, he wanted to finish his task and finish it quickly, so, he went back to work, even though his body was telling him not to.

As he turned the corner, he noticed a very faint glow coming from a rosebush right nearby the tree. Alexander was not really sure if it the glow was real or if the heat clogged his brain, so, he continued mowing the lawn, but as he walked closer to the bush, the glow became brighter and brighter. With that, Alexander began to realize that the glow was real. So, he shut off the lawn mower and walked towards the bush. When he peaked into it, what he saw nearly caused him to stagger. There, tangled in the thorny branches of the rosebush was a type of sky blue gem. However, from the thickness of the rosebush as well as to how tangled and crowded the thorny branches were, it was not quite recognizable.

Wanting to take a closer look, Alexander spread the branches apart with one hand and dug in the bush with the other. The experience was a tough and painful one as the thorns scratched his skin, but he was willing to take the pain as he continued digging into the bush. When he reached it, he grabbed the object and with one hard pull, he yanked it out of the rosebush.

When he looked at the artifact up close, what he saw stunned him. In his bleeding right hand was a medium-size sky blue gem. The top of it was very flat on the top and had ten sides on it. Then, it expanded it a little bit outward on the way down; not quite towards the center, but about a quarter of the way. After it expanded, the gem shrunk in size as it went into a very sharp point on the bottom.

The appearance and behavior of the gem confused Alexander as to what this gem was and what it does. He would soon get his answer, because, moments later, the gem glowed brightly, creating a blinding blue light. When it died down, Alexander looked at his hand and noticed all his cuts were gone. Also, he could no longer feel any kind of pain that Mannato gave him about a few minutes ago, but Alexander was confused even more as to why a gem would do such an activity like this.

The gem, however, was not done. While thinking about its "attitude," something appeared from inside the gem. Alexander was very confused as to what it was trying to tell him, so he looked closely and noticed something familiar. The picture had a very dark shadow, and there was a red-and-purple striped carpet. Right next to it was a marble stairwell with wooden handlebars on the edge. Alexander was extremely confused as to what that was about. Suddenly, he noticed a resemblance coming from the picture inside the jewel.

"_Is it me," _he thought and turned his attention toward the mansion behind him, _"or was that the lobby of the mansion?"_

Suddenly, the big sky blue gem glowed brightly, as if it read his mind. Alexander, hot being used to talking to jewelry, looked at it confusingly. "You want me to go there?"

The gem glowed brightly again, but this time, there was a scripted message coming from inside. It said, _"Yes, but not today."_

Alexander's heart sank before asking, "If not today, then when?"

The gem answered again, but with a new message, _"In two days."_

Alexander made a short, but quick nod and smiled. "Sounds good to me," he finished and went back to work.

* * *

Two more days passed by and Independence Day, one of the biggest days of the year, had finally arrived. There, the people of New York City were getting ready for the big celebration as the fireworks begin later that night. Families were preparing picnics, and the highways were closing down as everyone arrives to watch the display. 

For Alexander, he never got that shot as he lied on his bed, his hands behind his head. For him, he was hoping that, one day, he would escape this place and that he would get treated like a person rather than like a slave. With the gem's guidance, there was a very good chance he was going to get that shot…

"Alexander!" barked Mannato as he opened the door. "Outside now."

...But, first, he had to deal with Mannato and Carddall in hopes of getting them out of the house.

"Okay, sir," said Alexander as he got up and walked to the front door, where Carddall, in a black dress, and Mannato, in a black suit, were waiting for him.

"What is it?" Alex asked as he walked to them.

"We'll be going back to our home place of Ankara for the next several months," said Carddall.

"And?" asked Alexander, expecting something else to pop out from their mouths.

"And you won't be joinin' for the ride," added Mannato with mock sympathy.

Alexander's expression faulted into anger and sadness, but what Mannato and Carddall did not know was that he was only playing along in the conversation. His insides were actually doing back flips from the announcement.

"It looks like the limo should be here any minute now," said Carddall as she checked her watch.

Suddenly, a car horn honked from outside. The limousine had finally arrived.

"Good, it's finally here," said Mannato as he peered out the window. "Alex, go back to your room," he added forcefully, not looking at him. "I don't want them to see an ugly figure such as yourself."

Alexander complied and walked back to his room and closed the door behind him, and a few minutes later, he heard the limousine drive off to the airport.

After making sure they were actually gone, Alexander wasted no time packing. He grabbed some of his spare clothes, some food and water from the kitchen, and new toothbrush and toothpaste from the bathroom upstairs and put them in a black traveling bag. Then, he walked to his coat rack and put on the black sweater.

Once he was fully dressed and completely packed, he grabbed the gem and walked out of his room, shutting the door behind him.

"Okay," said Alexander to the gem. "Now where do I go?"

The blue gem glowed brightly and created an arrow to the cupboard right next to him.

Alexander eyed the jewel confusingly. "You want me to go through there?" he asked, pointing at the cupboard.

Suddenly, the jewel floated out of his hand and aligned itself to a hole in the wall, making itself a doorknob to it.

Alexander raised his eyebrow confusingly, but he soon understood what it was doing. "Thanks for helping me," he chuckled and turned the "doorknob." When he turned it, he pushed on the wall and in front of him was a gate of darkness. He could not see what was inside there, but Alexander was very curious as to where it goes, so he walked through the gate, uncoupled the jewel from the "door," and entered inside.

The tunnel was as cold as winter and as dark as night. Alexander was having difficulty as to which direction he was going, but with some guidance from the jewel, he was able to navigate through this tunnel a little less vaguely than what it would be if he did_ not _have the gem.

"Man oh man," said Alexander with a little speck of excitement in his voice. "I can't believe that I got away from my _owners _out there," he said, saying "owners" emphatically. "Now, I wonder where _I'm _gonna be going to."

Suddenly, the sky blue gem shot out from his grasp and hovered above him, releasing a very bright blue glow.

Alexander realized that it was trying to tell him something and began shouting at the gem. "WHAT IS IT THAT YOU'RE DOING?"

He soon found his answer as the black background began to show some sort of description. It was vague at first, but as a few minutes passed by, the background became more and more detailed. After the transformation was finished, he noticed he was inside a very deep well, with the walls being round and covered in black bricks. High above him, sunlight was breaking through a small plant from above him. Also, on the wall was a steel ladder that protruded out of the well.

Alexander went to the ladder and began to climb up, grabbing the gem in the process. He kept climbing, and climbing, and climbing. That was starting to fatigue Alexander, and with all the clothes he was wearing, along with the heavy travel bag on his shoulder, it was a lot of hard work for him.

However, he just had enough strength as he reached the top. When he finally made it, he pushed the branches of the small plant out of the way and climbed out. What he saw amazed him. He was in some kind of forest, where tall pine trees blanketed the entire area. Also, there was a pathway that led to a stone staircase that goes down only four steps. That path enticed Alexander to his highest. With nowhere else to go, he decided to walk down the path.

With that, he, with the gem in his right hand, walked down the four steps, turned around the bend, and down the road. As he trekked, he realized that this path was now going steadily downhill as he can see the huge pine trees reach to its completeness. Then, the hill went straight once again and Alexander climbed up a few flights of stairs similar to the one by the well.

For Alexander, he could not help, but admire at the scenery. It felt like home to him. Sure, he was in the forest for about two hours, but he felt extremely comfortable here. He was now wishing that he remained lost here in this beautiful forest.

"Man," said Alexander absentmindedly as he gazed at the trees, which the leaves sparkled in the sunlight. "Of all the things I've seen, this is something I never expected. I've never seen a place so beautiful before."

Out of nowhere, the sky blue gem glowed brightly, as if it was blushing from the compliment.

"You like it, too, don't ya?" Alex smiled, his turquoise eyes twinkling in the light.

The gem glowed in reply.

Alexander chuckled and looked ahead, sighing dreamily and without conscience. _"I wish I stay here for the rest of my life,"_ he thought happily.

As he walked deeper and deeper in the forest, he began to feel extremely warm and sticky from all the humidity around him.

"Jeez," he muttered as he fanned himself with his shirt. "Where's a fan when you need one?"

However, knowing he was in a tropical forest, he improvised by taking off his sweater and putting it in his bag. "Ahh. Much better," he sighed contently as he flapped his hair away from his forehead, but his journey would be temporarily halted as he reached a junction that went two ways. One went right; the other went left.

"Hmm," pondered Alexander as to choosing which direction he would like to go. "I'll go this way," he decided and went down the left path.

While walking, he noticed that many of the trees were a little different than from what he saw earlier. Instead of pine trees that had healthy green leaves, the trees were as high as sequoias and the leaves were in a golden brown color, which were dazzling in the bright midday sun.

"Man, oh man," whistled Alexander as he sighed in awe as a result from the spectacular sight he was seeing. "I never thought I would ever see something like this. This place is _way better _than where I came from." He knew that he might have said it a little too prematurely, but he felt very happy and safe here rather than in the city.

When he reached the end of the path, he noticed he was in a plateau full of sequoia trees that contained red leaves, orange grass on the plateaus, and huge wobbly mushrooms that towered the sky. Mushrooms? Yes, mushrooms. These mushrooms ranged anywhere from six to fifteen feet tall. Some of them, to Alexander's greatest surprise, were wider than compact cars, while others were sometimes taller than most pine trees. However, the thing that was similar to each mushroom was that the stalks were bright gold, about as gold as the sun, and the cap of the mushroom was dark red with yellow polka-dots all over it.

"Hmm," said Alexander as he eyed the area with curiosity. "I wonder what this place is."

Out of nowhere, the sky blue gem glowed and on it had these words in it, _"Mushroom Hill."_

"'Mushroom Hill'?" said Alexander as he surveyed the area again. "Hmph. I should've known the name quite a while ago."

As if insulted, the gem glowed dark blue as it became scalding hot, too hot for Alexander to handle as he dropped it, allowing it to hit the ground.

Alexander looked down and wondered why the gem reacted like that, but he quickly realized it and crouched down upon it remorsefully. "Sorry," he apologized and the gem glowed its normal sky blue aura again, as if it was accepting it.

When Alexander picked it up, he looked at Mushroom Hill and sighed deeply. "I think we should go down the other path now." With the jewel's glow, as if agreeing with him, Alexander walked back the other way.

When he reached the junction once more, he quickly turned to the path he had yet to go to and began walking down that direction.

* * *

As he walked, he realized that the tree bark was becoming very damp from condensation and the leaves were spilling dew down onto the damp road. Plus, it was getting very sticky and steamy as he walked deeper and deeper into the forest. 

The humidity made Alexander sweat profusely, but it did not bother him as much as it used to. Now, he was over it as it suited him into this kind of environment.

For Alexander, he couldn't help but smile at the surroundings around him. "I can't help, but loving this place here. In my opinion, this is starting to feel like a new home." Then, he gazed at the jewel. "And I plan on staying here until the day I die."

The cerulean gem glowed again, as if it was confused.

Alexander realized that. "Why would I say that even though I've been here for only a few hours?"

The jewel glowed in reply.

"Well, I must say that I haven't liked where I live. Yes, it's a very huge mansion, where I would have everything," he sighed sadly, "but I don't. With Carddall and Mannato giving me bumps and bruises, I don't feel very safe being there anymore. Now, I'm here and they're gone for a few months."

The gem glowed brightly again and it had these words inside it, _"Why are you so comfortable here?"_

"Why, you asked?" wondered Alexander as he looked down at the jewel. After humming in return, Alexander gave it the explanation. "Well, in my opinion, this tropical paradise is sort of a haven to me." He returned his attention to the road ahead of him and sighed dreamily. "I don't think I ever want to leave this place."

Then, out of the blue, the glowing object shot out of his hand and flew off down the road.

"Hey! Wait! Come back!" called Alexander as he hurried after it. He followed the gem's path and ran as fast as he could. Even when he got tired, he was still determined to go after the jewel.

Just as he was out of steam, he saw the gem floating off the ground at about Alexander's eye level. When he walked toward it, he looked at it with narrow slits in his eyes. "What do you think you're doing?" he scolded.

Suddenly, the gem glowed and it had these words inside it, _"Look ahead of you," _before the light subsided.

When Alexander looked ahead, what he saw was a plateau that was covered with thick grass. In the center of the hill was a small lake in which the water was black and shiny. On the right side of the lake, there was a 60-foot high ledge. Coming out from the ledge, a huge waterfall comes crashing down into the lake. Around the lake are huge evergreen trees which sparkled in the humidity. Along the horizon lied Mushroom Hill, in which the tallest mushrooms shot out from the background evergreens.

Alexander looked at the plateau with utter awe. "What is this place?" he wondered in a murmur.

The words, _"The Midnight Grove," _flickered from within the gem's glow.

"'The Midnight Grove'?" murmured Alexander and returned his attention towards the lands of the grove, especially at the black pond and waterfall.

_"I can see why this area is called the Midnight Grove," _he added in thought while staring intently at the black, but transparent pond ahead of him.

Then, out of nowhere, the jewel glowed again, but with a much brighter flicker than before.

"What is it?" Alex asked it, thinking that it was signaling something bad to him.

Another quote scratched itself within the jewel's illumination, with the dark words, _"__Look up," _appearing from within.

Wondering what the signal was all about, Alexander looked up towards the sky. Instead of seeing something sinister or horrific, what Alexander saw was more of marvel, excellence, and most of all, beauty. 

In the crystal blue sky, a sparkling mango-colored moon floated above one of the tall background mushrooms. On the top of the moon, there were dark orange spots in which one of them trailed downward to the moon's equator. Along the left side, bright yellow streaks met together near the equator and curved down toward the South Pole. Other than that, the rest of the moon was in a dirty gold color. The beautiful sight made Alexander speechless, and if that wasn't enough, its golden aura gave the moon even _more_ beauty.

However, his continuous gaze made him completely forget as to where he was or what he was supposed to do, and his precariousness was about to cost him.

Still looking up at the moon, Alexander began to walk down the hill lackadaisically, when he suddenly tripped on a small rock and somersaulted down the hill, dropping the gem and travel bag in the process. There, he continued to roll painfully down the hill until he hit the embankment and splashed, back first, into the black water.

Alex stayed down for a few moments before sitting back up, groaning and bruising from the tumble he just suffered. _"Man, I should watch where I'm going next time," _he thought as he rubbed his sore back.

Out of nowhere, the travel bag crashed onto the grass, landing with a soft thump. Following the bag's fall was the gem's crash landing, too… right on top of the bag, glowing harmoniously.

Alexander smiled and picked up his stuff. "Memo to myself: don't stare at anything to long. Otherwise," he stared at the rock that he tripped on, "it's an accident waiting to happen."

Suddenly, a teenage male voice echoed the entire area. "Hey, you should watch where you go, kid. There are lots of unexpected things going on here at the moment."

The out-of-the-blue voice caused Alexander to lose balance and fall back into the water.

"Gee, you need to toughen up inside in order for you not be surprised like that," he said concernedly but casually.

Alexander got up and looked around, but there was nothing to be seen except all the nature that encircled the pond. "Who said that?" he called, hoping he was not hearing things.

"I did," the male voice said.

"Where?" he asked uncertainly.

"Look up at the rock, then turn to your right."

Alexander did as he instructed by, first, looking at the rock he tripped over. Then he turned his head to the right. What he saw in the thickness of the forest was the hazy silhouette of a healthy young hedgehog.

"You see me?" the hedgehog asked.

"Yes, I do," Alexander answered back. However, he was not satisfied. "But…"

"But what?"

"But who are you?"

"Who am I?" the figure asked confusingly.

Alexander nodded.

The figure shrugged and walked forward. As he walked out of the forest, his appearance became more and more specific.

As he got out completely, his appeal caused Alex to internally jump. The hedgehog had huge oval-shaped white eyes with an opening in the center, and his irises were bright green. His ears and muzzle were beige, along with a long black nose in the middle of his muzzle. On the back of his head were six long curved quills. His body was very slender and strong. His belly had a beige oval, along with two downward quills and an upward tail on his back. His arms were the same color as his ears, muzzle, and belly, and he wore white gloves that were cuffed and creased in the middle. His legs were long and slender. On his feet were cuffed white socks and his shoes were completely red, minus the gray sole and white strap on the top of each shoe.

There was another thing about him that made him unique. Other than the extracurricular appearances on him, he was blue all over.

With that, he revealed his identidy. "My name is Sonic the Hedgehog."

_**To be continued…

* * *

**You like the prologue? If you did, read and review. There may not be that much action now, but it's coming. If you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them to you. Please, no flames, okay? Bye now!_


	2. Mobius, Part II: Angel Island

_**Disclaimer:** Sonic the Hedgehog and all other canon characters are owned by Sega and Archie Comics. Every original character used in "The Mobius Saga" belongs to me. No one is allowed to use them without my permission._

_

* * *

_**The Ultimate Adventure: The Mobius Saga**

**Mobius, Part II: Angel Island**

The wind stilled; the grass swayed. The waterfall dripped; the pond rippled. All the action either stilled or stopped as suspense filled the atmosphere. The Midnight Grove, mostly known for its everlasting beauty and serene tropicality, was becoming more of a general subplot for the entire imbroglio going on from the center of the grove.

Sonic the Hedgehog and Alexander Halbery, two people who just met no more than a few minutes ago, were staring down upon each other, letting their eyes penetrate into one another. Their reasons were the same, but their behavioral patterns contrasted.

For Alexander, he felt very shocked and surprised and his facial expression proved it. His eyes bulged and his breathing nervously quickened. The wonderment ahead of him was very surprising to him.

His expression not only took a toll on his breathing and facial muscles, but it took a toll on his voice, as well.

"Wow," he wanted to say, but he had either no strength or that he forgot about it. Whatever the case was, he was just too speechless to say anything.

He had seen a hedgehog many times before (in zoos or through magazines), but not one in the wild and _certainly _not one like what he was seeing in front of him. He was just… amazed and dumbfounded by this accidental discovery as he mentally proclaimed it to be.

Albeit some difficulties, Alex was _finally_ able to relax his eyes and he skimmed through Sonic's casual, yet confident posture. His wavering eyes also inspected Sonic's physical features from his big head, to his slender body, to his long legs.

Sonic's claim was proven evidently; he looked quite a lot like a hedgehog, with the long, sharp quills sticking out from the back of his head and back.

Despite the fascinating configuration and molding of this spectacular blue hedgehog, there was something – or some _things, _for the matter – to which made the thirteen year-old confused. First off, Sonic was blue all over, followed by his height, which was about three and a half feet. According to the magazines he read, most hedgehogs were pigmy-colored and about the size of an average person's hand, not blue and about the size of most young children before the age of ten.

Conversely, there was one main thing that caught Alexander's attention. One that quirked him with endless confusion. It was the fact that Sonic could talk without any interpretation or animal sounds whatsoever. It was like that he was _born _to talk. Either that or that he was really a human kid inside a very tight, elastic costume.

On the other hand, maybe it was something else. Perhaps a dimensional warp caused all the oddities around there. Yes, that must have been it; the dimensional warp was possibly the reason why the entire landscape was so quirky and alien.

That could be the case… or could it? That shall be determined later on…

Meanwhile, Sonic surveyed Alexander in about the same way (one with a lot of interest and keen wonderment), but he did it in a bit of a more casual approach rather than what his vice-versa actually did. On the other hand, there was more to which Sonic was seeing than what he observed externally.

In _his _mind, what he saw was a kid who was confused, dazed, and lost, causing him to feel a slight bit remorseful for the poor child.

However, something was making him both uncomfortable and curious, and it had _nothing _to do with Alexander's corny behavior.

"_There's something about this kid that is bothering me," _thought Sonic as his big green eyes looked down at Alexander, _"something that I just can't pinpoint. I wonder what it's all… _huh?"

All concentration, however, was rudely interrupted when the cyan gem in Alexander's right hand started to glow a little brighter than usual, forcing Sonic to cut off thinking about Alexander's odd behavior towards him.

Alexander also realized the gem's unexpected actions and stared down upon it. "Huh?" he wondered and brought the gem to his eye level. The gem quickly glowed in a bright blue ball, its light rays spreading out like a bird's wings. Then, much to Alexander's dismay, the glow died, leaving only the gem's own transparent shell.

It would not remain that way, though.

_**CHOOM!**_

Suddenly, a huge beam of light shot out from the very top of the jewel and into the aqua sky above.

That tower of light caught quite a lot of attention from all over the area, especially from a seven-haired dreadlocked man in a forest nearby. While gathering some fruit, he heard the humming from afar and looked above. That was when he saw the beam.

He did not have to guess twice; he had a good feeling what it was and where it came from. "I know that light," he answered to himself, as the bright light became crystal white. Wasting no time, he put all the fruit he scavenged down on a tree stump and ran after the tower of light in the distance.

"I have a very good guess where the light came from," he told himself as he ran down a dirt pathway, the trees a blur right beside him. "I just hope I'm not too late." And he ran harder than he usually did, letting the dry dirt from underneath billow into a thick cloud from behind him.

The little man hoped to make it to wherever he was trying to get to on time, but when he looked up again to see if he had not lost track of it, the tower already diminished.

"Darn it!" grumbled the little midget frustratingly as he slowed down; he then collapsed on his left knee, panting loudly from the lack of oxygen in his lungs.

He remained in that position for only a few seconds before getting back up again. "Well, at least I got close to it," he muttered, already giving up on the trek. However, he would soon get a little moment of good luck as he began hearing a small conversation adjacent from where he was. "Maybe a little _too _close," he thought aloud and started walking to where the voices came from.

Meanwhile, back in the Midnight Grove, Alexander watched in awe as the gem's essence escaped and sent silent shockwaves all around the territory. Its glow speared through the sky like a javelin sticking its head in the soft grass. Its rays unleashed all its glory and significance as it shielded the sky with a transparent sparkle.

This feature also caused a stir as far as nature went, from the grass to the water. The whole landscape was interested to this presentation. From the waterfall, to the grass, to the wind, it just seemed attracted by the glow.

It especially attracted something else, but it was not from the grove. It was something a bit… galactic than what was "right on the ground."

Even so, they were soon going to be disappointed. The main problem was that spectacles like this only lasted for so long. After about five minutes or so, the light diminished, becoming a mere quixotic glow as it penetrated from inside the small gem.

Alexander's eyes nearly popped out from this spectacle as he gazed down upon it. "Whoa!" he quietly gasped to himself.

"Yes, amazing to see one of the seven Chaos Emeralds act like that, huh," interrupted a voice from afar.

Hearing the voice, Alexander looked up to where it came from, only to notice Sonic the Hedgehog. He had his arms crossed, but with a look of casualness and a voice of calmness and care.

"A what?" Alexander asked.

"A Chaos Emerald," replied Sonic. "A mystical jewel that holds a lot of power that defies logic and comprehension."

Alexander gasped and looked at the glazy gem. "So, this gem is filled with mystical powers?"

"Mm-hmm," nodded Sonic.

Alexander gasped and allowed the brief explanation to sink into his own brain. _"So, _that's _what the gem is called!" _he thought. Sure enough, the Chaos Emerald was the jewel's identity as what Sonic informed him, and in the child's own perspective, it looked a lot more complete now that it was euonymus.

"And you said that there are seven of them, Sonic?" he recollected.

"Mm-hmm," nodded Sonic.

A whistle escaped Alexander as he heard the announcement. Yes, there _were _more Chaos Emeralds around. He has assumed there was more after reading a newspaper article a couple of days ago. Now, if he only had it to show him…

Well, despite the missing evidence regarding his hypothesis, part of his assumptions was solved. Now, he wanted to know some things that the Chaos Emerald was capable of doing, like how they enacted these unique oddities and why they did them.

And he wasted no time starting his quest on the Chaos Emeralds' mysteries. "Um, Sonic?"

Hearing the voice, Sonic turned his attention from the sky to the small child. "Yes, kid?"

"You know that beam of light that occurred just a few minutes ago – what was that?"

Sonic answered this question right away, as if he knew by heart. "That's usually a sign," he replied.

"A sign?"

"Mm-hmm," answered Sonic with a nod. "A Chaos Emerald usually does that when another Chaos Emerald is close by."

"I see," said Alexander and gazed at the Chaos Emerald. _"That's one more question down," _thought Alexander mischievously._ "Now, I need the rest."_

With that, Alexander continued to question the hedgehog. At least, he was _about _to question him…

_**SNAP!**_

…Because suddenly, a sound of a twig snapping was heard, causing both Alex and Sonic to gasp.

"What was that?" wondered Alexander in a panicked tone.

"I don't know," said Sonic, "but I'm sure it won't be good."

"Won't be good?" gasped a voice indignantly.

Sonic and the child jumped internally – only Alexander fell into the water.

"You okay, kid?" asked Sonic as walked down the slope and helped Alexander to his feet.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," the Halbery child groaned. "I've been through worse pain than this."

Sonic smiled and veered his attention away from the poor child. There, he let his big green eyes gaze the area, in hopes of trying to find the person who roared out into the tranquil scenery. Unfortunately, there was no one in sight.

In mere moments, that would all change.

"Hey, you!" interrogated a deep male voice from the area.

Alexander and Sonic internally jumped again, but the sound was clearer than the last shout-out.

The area became quiet for several moments until Alexander looked up at the cliff and gasped.

"Sonic?" he said slowly.

"Yes, kid?"

"I think we found out who was the one that was shouting at me," stammered Alexander and pointed up at the top of the cliff with his left hand.

And he was right, too. Sonic looked up and noticed a red echidna glaring darts at the drenched Alexander, his violet eyes glowering and his arms crossed. The echidna had seven red quills that started from the sides of his head all the way to his shortest one perpendicular to his front. He had a beige muzzle along with a small black nose, along with eyes that slit downward crossly. His purple irises within looked so angry it could scare a ghost.

His red physique was slender, but bulky in the chest, containing a pearly white crest that looked a lot like a big grin. The long, body-length arms were crossed stiffly over his chest, but they were not big enough to hide his huge white boxing gloves, which had two sharp knuckles on each hand.

His legs were quite long, almost as long as his arms. His ankles donned hard green anklets that looked like hollow cylinders. Just like his body, his shoes were completely red, along with a yellow center stripe that split the shoes' solid red color. On the top of each shoe, there was a gray metal plate with six bolts on them.

Lastly, on the end of his spine, hiding in the shadows of his dreadlocks, he had a long red tail that that went upward, then jolted downward about halfway like a lightning bolt.

After surveying the area, the echidna jumped up, spreading his body and arms out like a carpet, and glided down.

When he landed on a rock nearby the one Alexander tripped on, he looked down on the boy and glared at him.

"What are you doing here on my island?" the echidna scolded and pointed at him with his right arm.

Alexander, unfortunately, did not hear him and only looked at him with a kind of interest as to who the echidna was. However, the stern look and policing tone gave him a slight shiver, as if his conscience told him to not misjudge this person.

Oh, would he ever be so right; unlike Sonic, the red echidna was not that patient, and if he _had_ patience, he lost it very quickly.

"ANSWER ME, KID!" he barked echoingly.

"Wahh!" cried Alexander and fell into the water once more. This time, he collapsed face-first, chagrining Alexander so much he began spewing out adult-like swearwords. Thankfully, the water – and the fact that his face imprinted the sandy surface – muffled it, making it unintelligible.

"Hey, hey, Knuckles!" called Sonic crossly and walked in front of the red echidna, restraining him from going nearer to the child. "Take it easy on him," he added, his eyes glaring arrows at his comrade.

"Take it easy on him?" Knuckles barked again, shoving Sonic's weight off him, making the hedgehog hit the pillowed grass with a soft thud. "Do you have any idea why he's here? He can be someone who works for Eggman or some sort."

Sonic, not believing what he had just heard, jolted his head up quicker than lightning, coughing up the fertilizer-flavored grass that was in his mouth.

"Working for Eggman?" he spluttered indignantly as he got up. "That's baloney. Why would a lonely child like him be working for a fat, bald-headed jerk like him?"

"Who knows?" said Knuckles with a sarcastic shrug, his eyes closed with mock melancholy. "He could've tricked him to coming here."

"Tricked him, my–"

"Um, guys…"

The two arguing males turned to a confused, cross, _and wet _Alexander standing in the black pond. "Excuse me for saying this, but _what the heck are you two talking about?"_

Sonic and Knuckles stared at Alexander blankly and blinked numerous times at the kid, as if they just heard a ghost or if they had forgotten about him. That was when a chill occurred in the wind as the grass wafted in the gust. Other than that, everything soon became very quiet and very eerie, like time had slowed down and everything stood still.

However, after a few minutes of calm serenity, both Sonic and Knuckles returned their attention towards each other and resumed arguing, as if nothing ever happened.

Confused _and _angry as to what was going on, Alexander sighed disgustedly and grabbed his luggage, which was completely wet of black water from bag to strap. "Oh, well, guess I'm no longer needed here," he muttered to himself while cursing mentally at the two jabbers. He was about to step out of the pond for the first time in a long time when the Chaos Emerald shot out of his right hand and floated above him.

"What is it?" asked Alexander to the floating Emerald in front of him.

The Emerald was immobile for only a few moments when it suddenly glowed a little more brightly. Then, it gracefully glided past Alexander and floated in front of the waterfall.

As it floated, the luminosity slowly became brighter, and an aura in the shape of a fan formed, splitting the water in half.

When the blue radiance finished expanding, what was behind the water was not solid rock. In fact, there was not anything back there, at all; right behind the waterfall was a very dark cave, but it was not pure black. Some brownish dirt polluted the midnight hole. In addition, some light zinged from inside thanks to the sunshine above as crystallized light broke through the darkness.

Alexander smiled curiously and walked towards the cave, letting the water sponge through his worn-out sneakers. He then peered through it by sticking his head inside, ignoring the small droplets of water that pounded on the top of his scalp. Even though he saw nothing but near-darkness in that very tunnel, he was extremely interested as to what was inside there and where it went.

"What is this place?" he asked himself.

The Chaos Emerald brightened with the words _"The Cosmic Cave" _coming from within.

"'The Cosmic Cave,'" he reiterated. "Hmm," he added with a pondering hum as he stared at the Cosmic Cave again.

"I wonder what's in there," he wondered to himself, but in a low volcality, "and where it leads to."

That was when he started to half-daydream about the tunnel and its potential destination. _"Maybe, it's a way out of this area, or a passageway to another part of the island–" _but his daydream ended rather rudely when he shifted his distracted gaze at Knuckles and Sonic, who were still arguing near the shoreline, _"–whichever island I'm on, that is," _he finished blankly.

Once he was done with his thoughts, he returned his attention back towards the cave and walked inside, grabbing the Chaos Emerald with his left hand on the way. With that, he disappeared, leaving the brawling duo in his wake.

At the precise moment Alexander disappeared, Sonic and Knuckles heard the quick rush of the waterfall, halting their argument.

"Um," Sonic slowly quoted as he looked around the Midnight Grove, "is it me or did that child just disappear?"

"Yeah, I think he did," answered Knuckles, observing the surroundings, as well.

The two critters ultimately forgot that their argument ever existed.

Soon after, all nature coming from the grove returned to normal, as well as the golden moon. The moment Alexander vanished, its bright yellow aura shone brightly and began orbiting the planet again, as if it was disappointed that there was no longer any action coming from there anymore.

* * *

The Cosmic Cave was dark and spooky, but had interesting features and elements in it. The walls were neither perfectly round nor perfectly square, but they were oblong. Several skinny stalactites hung from the high and shadowy ceiling, the marble and zinc reflecting off the Chaos Emerald's fluorescent blue light. Several stalagmites popped out from the ground, looking like they erupted out from a volcano. Unlike the stalactites, the stalagmites looked more like wigwams rather than upside-down icicles, with its round top rather than a needle nose. 

There were also several huge craters and indents on both the walls and floor of the cave. Many of the craters on the floor were as wide as a tire of an 18-wheeler truck, while some are smaller than dimes. Quite a lot of the wall craters looked a lot like cracked sinkholes while the rest was more or less like mini-tunnels that protruded into the outside world.

In all, the tunnel acted more like a maze; it was very difficult to maneuver around them. Apparently, the forces of nature – if it can be called that – was the one responsible for the "mess" that resulted from the cave's configuration. It would have been even tougher if Alexander did not have that Chaos Emerald with him, for it acted like a portable chandelier so he can see what was in front of him.

After turning the corner, Alexander slid down a small and steady incline, letting the dirt tumble down with him. He then got up, dusted himself off, and continued walking.

The current stretch of cave was very level and very spacious. The ground was very level and very smooth, with the walls far apart from each other. Still, that did not mean that there were a few oncoming stalagmites or stalactites blocked his way. That was _if _they could block his way.

"_Boy, this cave sure has a lot of quirks in here," _thought Alexander as he sidestepped a stalactite. He then turned left and slid down the hill. After getting up, he continued walking on, passing a termite-infested stalagmite on his right.

Afterwards, he took his attention off the clear road and stared at the Chaos Emerald in his left hand. He watched in mild awe as the bright light from the gemstone radiated from it. Alexander did not realize this, but he was fortunate he found it. Because the natural light from the outside had all but dissipated, the brilliant gem was his most reliable source of light he had.

Well, his concentration on the Chaos Emerald was about to come to an abrupt end as he turned left at the corner…

_**BONK!**_

"Ouch!"

…Once he did, he clunked his big, hard head right into an oncoming stalactite, which hung right in the middle of the pathway.

"Man, I'm really starting to hate this," he muttered crossly and rubbed his sore forehead, contradicting his thoughts from earlier in the day. After giving a small glare at the troublesome structure, Alex walked on.

"And I'm staring to hate this very quickly," he finished with a hard huff before turning the corner and out of sight.

However, after taking a couple of deep breaths, he regained his composure and continued trekking without holding some silly grudge over some inanimate object. He jumped over a low-risen wall and landed feet-first, but he lost balance and crashed his backside onto the ground.

This time, he would not get flustered. He soon got up, dusted himself off, and continued walking. He skidded down another slope and then climbed a steep but smooth incline.

Afterwards, his trek was just like any type of exploration. He climbed over stalagmites and crawled under stalactites, as well as walking uphill and downhill. He would soon find his way down another smooth and level path of the cave, and feeling alive, he began to run fast and hard…

"Oof!"

…But that opportunity of freedom would literally come to a screeching halt as he bumped into something that blocked the road, leading to him falling flat on his back.

He soon got back to his feet and positioned the Chaos Emerald's light to where he allegedly bumped into. What he saw was some kind of wall. It was black and had several sharp points that penetrated through the hard rock. Small craters encrusted its surface, and huge ledges hung from overhead on the corners of the wall.

It appeared to be a bright spot for Alexander… except there was apparently no way for him to reach the other side.

"Oh, great," he muttered. "How do I get to the other side now?"

The Chaos Emerald vaguely replied to him by displaying the words _"Look up" _from within the gem.

"'Look up'?" Alexander echoed and looked up at the blackened ceiling above, which was completed shadowed with a camouflaged shadow. "Hmm, I wonder what that's supposed… to… mean."

The last three words of his phrase quickly slowed down into several syllables as he received his answer. As he let the Chaos Emerald glisten the ceiling, Alexander quickly gulped upon looking at it. Way above his head was a small, but wide tunnel. It was oblong, with indents and craters all along its interior. Unlike the wall, no sharp, hypodermic-pointed tips were exposed, leaving Alexander some room for error.

That was if he had any; the tunnel was very high up, about 200 feet above the ground.

Alexander's limbs froze at the sight. _"Oh, great," _he reiterated in thought. _"It looks like I'm in for it now."_

Gulping loudly, he gripped his hands on the wall and muttered to himself, "Well, here it goes." And he started scaling the wall, trying not to let the Chaos Emerald slip out of his hand. It was no easy task for him, especially since he really had one useful for hand for him to climb.

His climb was difficult right from the start. The craters and indents were very slippery with dirt and dust, and many of them were spaced out. On many occasions, Alexander had to pull himself up with all his strength just to continue climbing. If was especially difficult since he was still holding the cyan Chaos Emerald. Not only did he have to worry from dropping it, he also had to worry about falling on the ground with a gigantic splat.

"Whew! This is tougher than I thought it would be," panted Alexander as he was only a few feet from the cornered ledges. "But I still have a little bit to climb." He then continued to climb until he reached the ledges above him. Deciding which cliff he would land on, he went to the left side and tossed the Chaos Emerald and bag to the ledge. After he heard them both land with a soft thud, he pulled himself up to the cliff and let his legs collapse onto it.

"Man… that was tough," he panted and wiped the sweat off his face. "But I still have quite a bit to climb," he finished after shining the Chaos Emerald towards the high ceiling.

"But first…" he muttered. Rather than climbing now, he decided to wait for a few minutes in order to regain some of the energy he lost while climbing. With that, he plopped onto the ground, letting his back crash itself onto the hard wall.

"…It's time for a water break," he stated and rummaged through his bag. "I could've sworn I put one in here while I was packing."

His search would merely be a brief one.

"Oh, here it is." He grabbed the clear plastic water bottle from the corner of his bag and took it out. He then unscrewed the cap and took a drink.

"Ahh, much better," he sighed, feeling the tingling of the water flow down his throat. He continued downing water until he quenched his thirst. All the while, the current relaxation he was in and the water he was drinking was giving him some of the strength that had depleted from him. Even though the water was a little bit lukewarm, he could care less for the time being.

Finally, after 24 minutes, he screwed the cap back on and put the water bottle away. "Looks back it's time to climb some more," concluded Alexander and got to his feet. He grasped the formations that were within his reach and continued to scale the wall.

The rest of the climb turned out to be easier than predicted. About everywhere he touched was some formation for him to climb. There were also ledges like the first one he crossed early in the climb.

Still the climb was very difficult, for he still had to pull himself up with a lot of might. Sweat was now falling down his face, and he sighed repeatedly, but he still kept on climbing.

Finally, after some strenuous climbing, he was finally able to reach the top of the cave. Taking the Chaos Emerald out from his right pant pocket, he pointed the glow directly towards the tunnel, letting its pollution penetrate it.

"Quite some distance from here," mumbled Alexander after mentally examining the tunnel's distance. Suddenly, he felt something tingle down his spine. It felt a little weird, but this sensation was apparently nothing that would cause harm, so he ignored it.

On the other hand, he wanted to something that was very tempting but risky, but he held off this hazardous temptation and crawled inside the tunnel instead.

He reached the other end of the tunnel about thirty minutes later and poked his head through the wall. After seeing nothing but total darkness, he took out the Chaos Emerald, letting the glow reflect off both the walls and the ground below him.

He then looked down towards the ground and noticed the formations below him. "Good," he said to himself and climbed down the wall.

Once he touched down, he shined the Emerald ahead of him and continued walking. The area of the tunnel he was in now had several stalactites hanging overhead. Each one varied in size and height, and they all lined up in a row.

"_Man, this tunnel just gets quirkier and quirkier," _thought Alexander while gaping at the stalactites above him.

About ten minutes later, the hanging pieces of nature became smaller and smaller, and they soon camouflaged into the blanket of darkness high above him.

"Yep, this tunnel has gone wacko," he decided, but he still kept going.

However, just as he reached the empty tunnel, he suddenly stopped walking. In front of him were two tall and wide tunnels; one went right while the other went left.

"Hmm," he pondered and shifted his attention to one entrance to the other, letting his curiosity and conscience try to tell him where to go.

After a short while, he made his decision. "I'll go this way," and he walked down to the left corridor.

* * *

The tunnel he was now walking in had the same typical features from all the other areas of the cave. Stalagmites, stalactites, craters, and narrow crevices plagued the cave. However, they were not commonplace; they only showed up every once in a while. 

The unique part of this area was that there was life down there. Weeds sprouted from the cracks of the rocks. An occasional tree root from the outside world snaked through the cracks and hung overhead. Minerals glittered of the Emerald's light, making them act a lot like stars; and termite mounds made of the dark crimson dirt on the cave's floor scattered the caves.

Sure, the cave was still like a maze, but at least company awaited him.

Alexander turned right and walked past a stalagmite on his left, then zigzagged and passed a termite mound on his right.

"Maybe this cave's not that dreadful after all," Alexander whispered to himself as he stared at the top of the mound; the termites crawled from the mounds' several tunnels and glued the dark red dirt onto it.

"I hope the dirt hardens here. It's either too far away or too deep for the sunlight to reach here."

"_Not exactly," _went the Chaos Emerald as the signature pierced through the glow.

Alexander looked down upon it. "What d'ya mean?"

"_They're called subway termites," _it went. _"Once the wet dirt sticks to the dry mound, it quickly hardens."_

"Oh," acknowledged Alexander. "So, sunlight is _not _needed to harden the mound."

The phrase _"Exactly!" _penetrated the light.

"I see," acknowledged Alexander with a smile as he walked down the small slope and turned left on the corner.

A couple of hours now passed by and the cave was finally receiving some much-needed sunlight. Some bright sunshine penetrated through the holes of the black ceiling.

"_Finally," _thought Alexander exasperatedly. _"Sunshine." _He apparently missed the outside world after trekking in the dusty and hot cave for almost half of the day!

Still, everything was quiet, too quiet for Alexander's taste. Everything seemed still and lifeless. From the ceiling, to the walls, to the dusty floor, it paled in comparison to either a spooky and silent forest, or even worse, an underground graveyard.

"_After traveling in this cave for several hours, I hope I don't become claustrophobic," _thought Alexander while staring at the Cosmic Cave's walls.

"_But still…" _he added with a smile, _"I'm actually glad that I chose to come here. I discovered places that I've never seen before, and I traveled into what – I assume – is a new dimension. And I like to thank my new friend here,"_ he finished while staring at the Chaos Emerald in his right hand.

Finally, he spoke aloud. "Ya know, Chaos Emerald, I like to give you my thanks for helping me discover this dimension. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been here. And I grant you my appreciation."

The Chaos Emerald glowed extremely brightly, as if it blushed from Alexander's gracious compliments.

"I knew you'd be glad to hear it," he finished with a grin before looking ahead of him.

However, he was not thinking about what traps the Cosmic Cave was planning; it was something else. It involved something that seemed to aid Alexander in his self-guide tour of the island… whichever island he was on that is.

"_I know that the Chaos Emerald has helped me on this journey; and it has also aided me to discovering this world and whatnot. Heck, it also helped me get away from Cardall and Mannato, those two punks._

"_In fact, I wonder what would happen if they actually found out about this. They might've either freaked out or try to sell it in the black market. Well, even if they did, Carddall, Mannato, I found it first and there's not a darn thing both of you can do about it." _And he created an imaginary picture with Carddall and Mannato huddling in a corner, begging for the Chaos Emerald's mercy. It was a sure note that Alexander's image was completely opposite of that as the child snickered sinisterly at the thought of it.

"_However," _he contradicted himself after leaning on the wall, and sitting down on the ground (right underneath an area where the sunlight broke through the ceiling), thus ending his "fairy-tale" picture,_ "I'm also curious. Even though I know that this is a Chaos Emerald, and even though I know that there are seven of them out there, I wonder… what are the Emeralds' intentions? Like, how can the Chaos Emerald behave like this and why do they act like actual beings? Furthermore, where are they, where they came from?_

"_Moreover, I wonder what Sonic meant. 'A Chaos Emerald: a mystical jewel that holds a lot of power that defies logic and comprehension.' What does that mean exactly? Could it mean that the Chaos Emerald holds insurmountable powers or is it something else mystic about it?_

"_They're all huge mysteries to me; and I want, no, _have_ to find out what they actually are and what they're meant to do."_

Afterwards, he sighed loudly and looked down on the Chaos Emerald in his right hand.

"Um, Chaos Emerald?" asked Alexander, beginning the query.

The Emerald radiated sweetly and pleasantly and had the word _"Yes?" _inside it.

"Well…" began Alexander, trying to format his question, "when Sonic said that you have powers that defied logic and comprehension, um…" he put his free left hand on his chin and started scratching it with his index finger and thumb, "…what was he talkin' about?"

However, he would be shut out; the Chaos Emerald dimmed drastically and remained that way, as if it refused to respond to the question. Alexander had a very bad a feeling about what its intentions were exactly and had a guess what it was. He, nevertheless, remained patient, yet eager.

Seven minutes later, though, the Chaos Emerald's glow slowly enlarged, becoming twice the size of a baseball. Alexander just knew it; this was the decisive moment for him. His questions were about to be answered, and the mysteries of the Chaos Emerald would be solved.

Unfortunately, the glow dimmed again, becoming a soft, but brilliant perspective.

"Darn," Alexander grumbled disappointingly. "Now, how will I get receive the questions now?" And he sighed disappointedly. Now, he was becoming suspicious of the Emerald's antics, as he believed there might be a reason why it did that.

"_Was the Emerald hiding something?" _the child thought._ "Was this secret so precious that it would do whatever it took to not reveal this hidden cargo?_

"_Oh, well," _Alexander now thought and got up, _"since it's not gonna answer to my questions, I'll just figure them out myself." _Afterwards, he got up, and continued walking.

However, what Alexander did not know was that there was something amiss in this tunnel, something that waited for Alexander when he didn't realize it. It was preparing a plan, a plan to drag Alexander to the surface and face the truth, whether he wanted to or not…

…And the perpetrator was not far away; it was just a mere distance away from him. Since Alexander was not concentrating on anything besides the "road ahead of him," it was ready to carry out its master plan, and it was ready to carry it… right… about… _now!_

**"****Alexander Halbery," **a deep but croaked male voice bellowed suddenly as it echoed through the tunnel and ricocheted off the fragile walls.

"Ahh!" Alexander screamed and jumped slightly off the ground, dropping both the Chaos Emerald and his bag in the process.

He looked around the cave as he gazed at the trail behind him and then looked in front of him, feeling very scared as a result to this sudden voiceover. "W-wh-what was that?" he whimpered.

No response; silence dawned the cave.

"Maybe it was the wind that I heard," he hissed to himself. How wrong he was.

**"****No, it wasn't the wind you heard,"** the voice croaked back, becoming a bit godlier than before.

Alexander gasped and looked behind him to where the voice came from. His breathing became harsh and hoarse as saliva clogged his esophagus.

"Maybe I was wrong about it being the wind," he choked as his breathing became shallower from the mucous in his throat.

Feeling panic building inside him, he crept backwards along the dark tunnel, hoping that this ghost would not catch him. Then, he jumped and screamed out of fright as he bumped into something from behind.

When he turned around, he realized that he merely bumped into a big and thick stalagmite that stood in the middle of the path.

"Whew!" he sighed. "That's a relief."

Unfortunately, his troubles were about to come by again.

**"****It's not as big a relief as you think," **the voice replied.

That was too much for him. He grabbed the Emerald with his right hand and his bag with the other and took off running.

**"****You can run, Alexander Halbery, but you can't hide,"** the voice echoed again and chuckled sinisterly.

But Alexander did not care; he just wanted to get out of there. He wildly passed by several stalagmites and turned right on the corner. He then slid down a small slope and out of sight, not knowing that he dropped the Chaos Emerald on the way.

He kept running until he arrived at an area quite some distance before stopping in another area of the cave. There, in the area he was in now, the dark ceiling glittered with iron and zinc, making the ceiling distinguishable. The walls were oblong and had several cracks and craters on it; and the ground was covered with old dirt, soil, and rock that blended in with the dark crimson dust.

Panting heavily, Alex grasped a nearby stalagmite (as if he was holding on for dear life) and looked up. He tried to distinguish the ceiling's glowing crystal, but his vision was very blurry and he was out of breath. He tried blinking a few times to clarify his vision, but it did no good.

Feeling physically drained and exhausted, he collapsed to his knees and leaned his head on the smooth-textured stalagmite.

"Wh-what's goin' on?" panted Alexander and coughed loudly. "Why can't I breathe?" he wheezed. He then looked down to where he could see his hands, but he was not able to tell due to blurry vision. "And why can't I see?"

**"****You're tired, Alexander,"** the male voice interrupted.

"Huh?" Alexander wondered and looked around, blinking absentmindedly.

"Yes, you're just tired. Maybe you should get some sleep, so you can regain your energy." 

The voice was familiar. One haunted Alexander so far. He knew what it was: it was the voice than drove him to near-insanity.

Now, he did not know what to do. His mind felt like running, but his body was disagreeing with him. This led him to a mind-quarreling dilemma. Should he run or should he sleep? The answer looked so easy, but it was actually not.

The male voice understood what was happening to Alexander and spoke about it.** "You're fighting."**

"What d'ya mean I'm fighting?" Alexander asked.

**"Your mind is telling you to run, but your body is too tired, too weak,"** the voice answered.** "That is true, is it not?"**

Alexander blinked again and raised his head a little. "Yeah, it's true," he realized. "But… how did you know that?"

**"****That is not for you to know,"** said the voice sharply.** "Right now, you must go and take a nap."**

"But I can't," he whined. "I have to continue going." He tried getting back up, but his legs collapsed, and he crashed to the ground again.

That was when he set off a very invisible, but stubborn billow. This billow would make his life miserable, and a billow that would cause him a lot of trouble. The reason for this was that it contained an extremely troublesome element. One that would distract him until it died down: the element of dust!

"_Ah-CHHHOOOOO!"_

As a result from having so much dust in is nose, Alexander sneezed hard, and it was so hard, it concocted a huge cloud of dirt and dust.

"_COUGH-COUGH-COUGH-COUGH!" _coughed Alexander queasily. Even though he couldn't see it, he could feel the cloud, thus making his conscience tell him to shut his eyes.

"Dang it!" he yelled out suddenly and frustratingly through the opaque swirl of troublesome dust.

It would be a while before the cloud subsided, and that was when the voice spoke again.

**"****The cloud's gone, Alexander,"** he said.** "So don't get all that panicky anymore."**

Alexander let his eyelids relax, but he still kept them shut. "Finally," was all he said.

**"****You should get some sleep,"** the voice said persistently.** "That way, you'll get your energy back."**

"Yeah," said Alexander. "You may be right. Maybe a nap will do me good." And it was proven true when he yawned loudly.

**"****Then, take a nap,"** the voice finished sternly.

"Well… then I will," Alex said through a stifling yawn and let his tired body fall into a gentle floatation of sleep. His absentminded mumbles, however, still escaped his mouth. "Hopefully, I'll get… back to shape… b-be…fore I…" he yawned again, but this time, he was too lazy to cover his big mouth, "w-w-wake… up." Afterwards, only his labored breathing disturbed the tunnel.

Once his eyes closed and voice quieted, the sweltering Cosmic Cave became still, hot, and hazy. The minerals zinged through the dark surroundings, and the sounds of rocks faintly collided with one another. But other than that, the cave was silent with a sleeping human child in the middle of the path.

And company was soon heading Alexander's way, and he would have it whether he liked it or not.

A bright light rounded around the bend and crept towards the child. It was so bright, its owner blended within it. Still, the color of the glow was easily distinguished. It was bright blue with the center almost white. It glided towards the child with a glimmer of interest.

**"****Poor kid,"** he mumbled, with the voice of a deep full-grown male.** "Maybe it wasn't a good idea playing that joke. But, oh, well. Duty calls."** Suddenly, the glow expanded, and the cave was engulfed into the light.

In Alexander's mind, he felt like he was relaxing on a fluffy cloud, feeling comfortable and satisfied. Despite the dirt and soil that napped all around and on him, it did no effect to disturb him. In fact, it made him _more _comfortable, since the gravel treated itself like a thin and transparent blanket. The problem was that the hot breeze that wafted past him occasionally made him uncomfortable. Sure, it caused a twinge of discomfort, but it was merely temporary as he sighed and went on to catch a bit more shuteye.

That was he felt until some bright blue light intertwine with his dream… and his vision. Squinting his eyes, Alexander groaned loudly and pushed himself off the wall. "What just happened?" he mumbled, shielding his eyes from the remnants of the bright light.

**"****You were in the Cosmic Cave and I transported you here," **a male voice said.

Alexander rubbed his eyes as his vision bettered. When his focus returned, he looked around and saw nothing but a bright cyan wall that continued to who knows where. "Where am I?" he gasped.

**"****You're in my home."**

Alex blinked. "Your home?"

**"****Yes, my home,"** answered the voice.** "It's an empty void of space, energy, and power. And you're now in that void."**

"Point taken," said Alexander confusingly. _"This is bewildering," _he thought. _"He said that this is the realm, but… where is that realm?"_

**"****You're _in_ that realm," **the voice said sternly, as if he read Alexander's thoughts. Suddenly, a while ball appeared in front of him. Then, when it diminished, the cyan Chaos Emerald floated in its place.** "You're inside the realm of the Chaos Emerald."**

Alexander's eyes widened, and he gasped. The pieces were finally coming together. "It was you," he accused and pointed at the gem with his left hand. _"You _were the one that haunted me in the Cosmic Cave."

**"****Yes, surprising, isn't it?"** chuckled the voice, its glow flickering each time he spoke.

"It sure is!" he roared before calming asking, "But why did you do that? Why did you try to drive me crazy like that?"

The Chaos Emerald chuckled and explained,** "My apologies, Alexander. I have a tendency to play tricks on others."**

"I CAN TELL!" he yelled indignantly, his voice echoing throughout the area.

The gem chuckled and continued on. **"All joking aside, I have something to say to you. A few days ago, you wished that you can make your future bright again. Am I right?"**

Alexander nodded. "Yes. How do you know about this?"

**"****If there's one thing us seven Chaos Emeralds know, we can recognize any call for help, even if it's not a vocal one."**

Alexander knew what he was talking about right away. Right before he went to sleep on that hot July 1st night, he thought about trying to make his future right again, and he promised to do whatever it took to accomplish that.

Now, he might be getting his chance, and he was not going to let this slide by him. "Yes, I'll help you."

**"****Good,"** responded the Chaos Emerald.** "But you must help us first."**

"What d'ya mean?"

The Chaos Emerald sighed and told him the bombshell.** "The thing is this world is in trouble. There's a great evil planning to conquer this dimension, and the Chaos Emeralds are asking for your help."**

"WHAT?" exclaimed Alexander as his eyes nearly popped out. "Oh, no!" he shouted and started to crawl backwards. "There's no way I'll risk my butt in order to save this world."

**"****Well, you'll have to, because this is a lifetime commitment for you."**

"I don't care!" Alexander wailed and pushed himself up to his feet. "There's _no WAY_ I'm gonna do that!"

"**Actually," **chuckled the Emerald,** "part of your heart does."**

Alexander became flabbergasted at the Chaos Emerald's contradicted statement. "Then, you must be power-hungry!"

The Emerald laughed godly.** "And you're not thinking with your brain,"** he retorted smugly.** "You don't know this, but part of your heart craves in helping others. Also, like I said before, you want to get your life straightened. Is that true?"**

Alexander stayed silent but not without growling lowly at him.

**"****You're way too persistent for your own good," **bribed the Chaos Emerald.** "You fear this fate, but you know you want it. It's in your heart, it's your desire."**

Alexander became more frustrated at the Chaos Emerald's wooing. He knew it was starting to break into him and could barely hold on to this denial.

The Chaos Emerald knew it.** "I can feel your denial. I can feel your desire. You can't deny it now, because I can see it right through you."**

Alexander growled harder in frustration; he could not be able to keep a straight face anymore. He was losing the battle of egos, and he knew it.

Finally, the Chaos Emerald pulled out the big guns.** "C'mon. Admit it! You're not gonna be able to take this beating anymore, so just _admit it_ already!"**

Alexander could not hold back his frustration any longed and blurted out from the top of his lungs, "All right, all right, _all right! _I'll help you! But I'll only do it if you stop _PESTERING _me!"

The Chaos Emerald felt satisfied with Alexander's "forced" decision.** "It's a deal,"** he said, **"but that doesn't mean I won't be silent."**

"True," sighed Alexander begrudgingly.

After a short silence, the Chaos Emerald spoke again.** "So, are you ready to get to work?"**

Alexander sighed in relief. "Well, it looks like I have no other choice," he muttered.

**"****No, you don't," **laughed the Chaos Emerald.

"Okay," said Alexander and grabbed the Chaos Emerald. "But if I die, I promise you that I'll make your life _MISERABLE _for you!"

**"****Cross my heart and hope to shatter,"** beamed the Chaos Emerald, even though he knew that Alexander was serious. **"Trust me. You won't regret it."**

Suddenly, the bright surroundings of the Chaos Emerald started to vanish and were replaced with a tropical background. Alexander was now standing in the middle of a wide dusty road where slate rocks and coal-colored pebbles rested and eroded in the wind. Along the sides of the path were 200-foot-tall pine trees. From the middle of the tree to the very pointy tip, aqua-colored leaves bore through the branches. Their redwood trunks were very thin and pointy on the top and very fat on the bottom. And the roots of the trees were covered in very moist green moss.

It was also very early in the evening; the top of the sky was dark blue, followed with a layer of red, then orange, and finally bright yellow. The sky also featured some streaky violet clouds. They looked like oversized feathers floating in the wind, with some sunlight highlighting the clouds' bottoms.

One direction of the path went towards the majestic Angel Mountain, its snowy ice cap sparkling from the sunlight; and the other direction showed the bright gold sun, its strong rays dissolving into the evening sky.

Alexander blinked confusingly at the sight. Sure, the view looked beautiful, but…

"Why is it almost night time out here?" he thought aloud. "The last time I saw, the sun was still shining high in the sky."

**"****That's because you were in my home,"** said the Chaos Emerald. Alexander looked down and brought it to his face.** "Whenever you're inside the Chaos Emerald, time travels a little bit faster than normal time."**

"I see," nodded Alexander. "So…" he added slowly as he looked in both directions, "…which direction do I go?"

He was about to get his answer when the Chaos Emerald broke from Alexander's grip and flew down the path toward Angel Mountain.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Alexander yelled and ran after it.

* * *

It was early evening to where Alexander was at, but it was already nighttime here. The black sky was clustered with very shiny stars. The constellations were foreign, and some patches were even blacker than space. There was also another moon in the sky, but this one was neither gold nor green. It was a very small white moon. Patches of light grey encrusted the lower right-hand corner with a couple of medium-grey spots along the upper left-hand side. Other than that, the moon was all pearl white, which included a bright silver aura than brightened the dark sky. 

The ground was intelligible, but there were tall sliver street lamps that stood along a very fat path that trailed to the middle of nowhere. The lamps had a silver pole, a flat and fat bottom, and a transparent sphere that was striped with six silver lines. Even though it mainly silhouetted in the dark night, the light from the lamps gave the road some description. There was dirt on the path, but there were several steel trap doors in it. Along the sides of the road stood a row of 250-foot tall sequoia trees, but the bark had a greenish tint and the leaves were dirty yellow. They apparently had their fill of rain, because dew dripped off from the tips of the leaves and splashed onto the ground.

Silence blanketed the area, and nothing seemed to disturb this tranquility.

_**WHOOSH!**_

That was until some hovercraft zoomed by. It looked like a half-ball, but one about thirty times its size. The hovercraft had three small wings – one on each side and one in the back – and a tall, upside-down cone on the bottom. The front of the hovercraft also flashed a very bright green light along with a transparent baby blue visor.

The hovercraft flew down the path like an ambulance racing towards a hospital when it suddenly slowed down and stopped. It hovered for a few moments when it sank towards the ground, and it continued sinking until it hovered from deep in the ground.

After it stopped, the person inside it climbed out and walked down the path. The path was completely dark except the little specks of light that trailed along the sides. The tunnel's ceiling also had a long, thin white light that beaconed down upon the man. The light might be bright, but it was only strong enough to show the person's bald head.

The man soon stopped walking and pressed a password along the right side of the door's border, forcing the doors to slide open. The room was very dark, no resemblance of light anywhere, but that quickly changed when the man flicked the switch on the right side of the door.

The whole room was very wide and huge. It was about 125 feet in width, 300 feet in height, and 175 feet in length. The walls along the sides were still camouflaged in the darkness, but it was bright enough to distinguish what was there. There seemed to be hundreds of capsules along each side, but they were all draped in a thick black cloth. The ceiling contained lime green lights that shone brightly. The floor had a brass-like color with tiles about the size of a normal door.

The wall opposite the door had a huge grid map. It was black and had white lines on it. The desk was very small, but the buttons were in the hundreds; it also included a huge lever that was steel blue with a red ball on its tip. Finally, looking up upon the grid was a black computer chair. It was very wide on the top, slender in the body, a fat pneumatic cylinder, and a five-prong base.

"Welcome home," said the man in a high but gruff voice. He then walked towards the chair and plopped onto it, sighing contently. The man had a very small head, but he was unique in many ways. He literally had a very big mouth, covered with a think brown moustache. His eyes were covered with opaque blue glasses, and thick, rubbery goggles donned on his forehead. He also had a nose that was so red and so huge, it looked like he just recovered from a very bad cold.

His body was very oval-like, about the shape of an oversized egg. He wore a huge red coat that had a white square stripe down the middle of his chest and each of his arm-length sleeves. The inside was apparently gold-colored, for the cuffs were gold. The sides of his coat had two stripes that each wrapped around his waists, all containing a gold cube on the ends.

His pants started from the top of his stomach and continued down through his slender legs all the way to his feet. The shoe-part of his pants had a grey heel (one for each foot), seven white squares on the front of his ankle, and four bolt-like buttons – one on each side of his ankles.

A silver button on each frontal side of his body connected his coat and pants; and he wore white cuff-less gloves that had a grey pad on the top of each hand.

"I don't think I ever wanna be out there on such a hot night again," sighed the egg-shaped man as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with a small handkerchief that he held with his left hand.

"_Here's your coconut juice, Dr. Eggman,"_ said a male robotic voice. It was in the shadows, but its hands were in the lights. They were indigo-colored and had three four-digit fingers. It was also carrying a small brown tray with a glass full of white liquid in it. The straw swirled and was green-colored; and four triangles of a coconut hung from the side.

"Thanks," said Dr. Eggman and took the drink. Afterwards, the robot vanished in the dark background.

Eggman sipped the juice and sighed. "Much better having the tropical drinks after going around in the hot day," he said to one in particular. "Ahh, this is the life," he added as he slumped on his chair.

"_Be careful, Dr. Eggman. You don't want the juice to flow in your brain, don't ya?" _he suddenly thought.

He continued drinking the juice until he swallowed every single drop of it.

Just as he finished drinking, he turned on the grid and pressed a red button on the upper right-hand corner of the desk, turning it on in the process. The map showed an entire digital map of the world. The map might not be that well organized, but it showed the land, water, altitude, and longitude quite nicely.

"Hmm, quiet out there," said Eggman, observing the map. _"Too _quiet for me." He then grumbled to himself and muttered, "Ahh, for someone who desired to conquer the world, I get very bored easily."

Another anxious sigh escaped him as he balanced his chubby head with his left hand. There was no action for the great Dr. Eggman? Oh no, where is the world coming to? He always found some action. That was… if he could find a Chaos Emerald.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, he spotted a weird dot in the middle of the screen. The spot was tan, and it flashed vigorously on some formation. The area where the light flashed looked like an amoeba, but with a nearly round shape on it. "That's weird," he declared. "I haven't seen that on radar before. Well, I'll just see what that's about." And he started typing on the keyboard, giving the computer instructions as to what the mysterious dot was about.

Unfortunately for Eggman, his luck would run out.

"_Information negative," _went the computer. _"No knowledge on that anomaly."_

Eggman was floored at the announcement; he certainly did not expect the computer to give him _that _kind of an answer. "But that's impossible," he said as he continued typing. "I have everything in my computer. The population, the land, everything. I've stored it all on memory."

"_Well, I'm sorry, Doctor," _said the computer with no tone, _"But I found no known traits on that anomaly."_

Eggman grumbled frustratingly and slapped his right hand on his head. He sighed frustratingly and continued typing. "But can you tell me what's there at least?"

"_That I can," _the computer enquired._ "There is a Chaos Emerald nearby the anomaly."_

Eggman's glasses widened. Did it just say that a Chaos Emerald was nearby? "That's close enough for me," he decided, toying his glasses in the process. "Tell me where it's located!"

After some more furious typing, he got his answer. _"The unacknowledged anomaly is located in a place called Angel Island."_

Eggman's "eyes" flashed again. "Angel Island, you say?" queried the Doctor and put his right hand under his chin. "That name's familiar to me." He then put his left hand over his mouth and pondered at the thought and memory of Angel Island, as well as what resided there.

Suddenly, his light bulb of ideas activated over his bald head and gave his thoughts on it… and more. "Apparently, Knuckles found someone astray on the island, and he doesn't know about the Chaos Emerald. Also, there seemed to be someone who didn't live in this world."

"_But do you know who this anomaly is?" _asked a female robotic voice.

Eggman shook his head. "Negative, but it's a pretty good idea to check it out." Suddenly, he furrowed his eyebrows to where it looked like they connected his big nose. "Speaking of traveling there, this looks like a good plan to be put into use here."

"_What are you talking about?" _wondered he same indistinct robot that gave Eggman the beverage.

"What I'm saying is that it looks like it's time for me to conquer this planet one again," he finished and got up. "And this time," he added with an evil grin and flashing glasses, "no one will stand in my way! _No one! _Not even _Sonic the Hedgehog!" _And he pumped his right arm into the air and exited the control room, cackling madly.

Soon after, he climbed into his hovercraft and rose to the surface. "Sonic the Hedgehog…" Eggman said with an evil glitter in his glasses and also sinister touches in his furrowed eyebrows and teeth-baring smile, "you're goin' down and there's _NO ONE _who can stop me!" Afterwards, he flew off into the distance, his evil laughter echoing into the night.

* * *

The cyan Chaos Emerald exited the crowded forest and hovered over the embankment, his glow enchanting the already beautiful evening surroundings. 

Alexander, on the other hand, was currently not in the mood. He had to sidestep several blue-leaved pine trees just to find him. Even still, he was tired out, for he had to run with almost no oxygen in his lungs.

The moment he stepped out of the forest, he collapsed onto the muddy embankment, coughing and panting just to regain his breath. "What… do you think… you're doing?" Alexander exclaimed at the gem after getting back up.

**"****Sorry, Alexander," **apologized the Chaos Emerald.** "It's just that duty calls, remember?"**

Alexander blinked blankly. "Oh," he said uncomfortably and scratched his head with his free left hand. "So," he said with an inadvertent chuckle, looking up at the lake, "why are we here now?"

**"****It's part of your duty, Alexander,"** replied the gem.** "Another Chaos Emerald is around this lake."**

Alexander nodded briskly and gaze at the surroundings. The embankment was wet with rocky dirt, and the aqua redwood trees swayed over the pond. The blue water reflected the early-evening sky, and the ripples made the reflected sky swirled like they intended to blend the colors in.

The other end of the lake was just about the same. The embankment was very brown and muddy, with the blue-leaved pine trees hovering and swaying overhead. However, there was something else there. Along the horizon was a very tall pyramid. It was sand-colored and contained some black and brown spots on it. The top of the pyramid was very sparkly, with the tip golden and shiny, looking like it was recently constructed.

Alexander sighed in awe at the sight. It was like being in a park, but without all the cars around to disturb the peace.

He looked at it for a few moments before asking the gem, "What is this place?"

**"****This is Azure Lake,"** answered the Chaos Emerald, his glow expanding each syllable he spoke.

"Azure Lake," reiterated Alexander to himself and looked at the body of water again. "This is a pretty nice place here," he muttered quietly. Then, he looked at the pyramid along the horizon. "And what's that pyramid over there?"

**"****That's one of the pyramids of Sandopolis,"** replied the Chaos Emerald.

"'One of the pyramids'?"

**"****Yes,"** went the Emerald.** "Angel Island's the home of many pyramids, and that is one them."**

Alexander looked at the gemstone confusingly. "Angel Island?" 

**"****Yes. You're on Angel Island, an island floating high in the sky."**

The Halbery child gasped. "What!" he exclaimed. "An island floating in the sky?"

The Emerald sighed irritably, feeling very cross at the child puzzlement and simplemindedness. However, he only let it pass by and said to him,** "Yes."**

Alexander whistled long and loud after hearing that. "Whoa!" he shouted and looked at the scenery again. _"So _that's _what the island's called!" _he thought, but that thought conflicted with another one. _"Plus, I'm on an island floating in the sky? I sure never depicted that."_

Afterwards, he let his mind wander elsewhere and just concentrated on the beautiful scenery in front of him. So quiet, yet so pretty, it would definitely make one nice vacation spot…

_**CLUNK!**_

"Hey!"

…But he was soon cut off when a small pebble hit him in the back of the head, courtesy of the Chaos Emerald.

**"You can think about the island and its wonders later,"** he interrupted strictly, his aura glowing quite bright in impatience. **"But first, you must find the Chaos Emerald."**

"Oh, right," Alex blinked, still rubbing the back of his head from where the rock hit him. "But how do we track it?" he added after looking from side to side.

**"****You use me,"** the Chaos Emerald answered briskly.

Alexander looked down upon it again, but kept silent so he would not get his friend annoyed with him.

**"****Whenever I shine brighter than what I do now, it means the Chaos Emerald's close by."**

Alexander nodded. "Got it," he said.

**"****Good. Now get to work."** And he went silent, with only the dim glow radiating from it.

"Right," Alexander responded. Once the gem quieted, he let it hover and moved his right hand from side to side, trying to find the direction to the Chaos Emerald. It didn't work for a couple of moments, but when he positioned it a little towards the left, the glow brightened lightly and hummed softly.

Alexander had a very good feeling what that meant. "I think I'm one step closer to finding our little friend," he mumbled and began walking left along the embankment.

The embankment was not too smooth at all. Some rocks rested along the incline, waiting to be eroded. Hard, wet sand crumbled as he walked, crunching loudly like a mouth chewing on something crunchy. And the leaves of the huge evergreen trees swayed merrily in the wind, as if it was dancing along with a fine tune.

As Alexander kept walking down the direction to where the Chaos Emerald was supposed to be, the one he had hummed a little louder than before.

"I think I'm getting a little bit closer to the prize," he mumbled while walking.

And he was right, for the hum gradually became louder. Alexander had a very good feeling that he would potentially find his new friend and hope that he would return this world to normal, if he could know how.

However, as he kept walking, the hum ironically became softer.

"I think I just passed it," he said and retreated a little bit to where he heard the hum the loudest.

"So, the Chaos Emerald's right around here," said Alexander. He had just walked one-quarter along the lake's shoreline, and the view was quite different. The pyramid along the horizon had vanished in the canopy of trees; the sky had darkened a little bit (with a dark shade of blue on the top of the sky, blood red halfway, and gold on the shoreline with bright yellow rays shooting from beneath the canopy of trees); and the trees from where he now stood was further inland. Other than that, everything was normal… if it can be called normal.

"The only problem is…" he continued slowly, "…where is it?"

His answer was quickly received when a bright red glow protruded from underneath the water, about forty feet straight ahead from where he was standing.

Alexander blinked. "I gotta go in there?" he asked the gem, pointing at the spot with is free hand.

**"****No, you don't,"** replied the cyan Chaos Emerald, speaking finally,** "even though you do need a long bath."**

Alexander looked at himself and realized he was walking all this time covered in dry, bony Cosmic Cave dust from head to toe. "Whoops," he said shyly, a blush breaking through the dust.

The Chaos Emerald chuckled at Alexander's embarrassment, but continued on.** "Well, all that aside, I know another way to getting that Emerald."**

"How?" 

**"****I can do that for you."**

"You can?" wondered Alexander. "How?"

After blurting out his question, the gem shot out from his right hand and hovered above the area where the glow came from.

"_I think I'm about to receive that question myself," _he thought.

As he watched, the cyan Chaos Emerald glowed a bright blue aura, making it look a lot like a huge soccer ball. A few minutes later, the red glow returned. Slowly, the water from where the red glow came from humped and out came a red Chaos Emerald.

Then, both Chaos Emeralds hovered and landed softly into Alexander's hands (the red one landed in Alex's left hand while the cyan one landed in the other one) before letting their respective glows die down into soft, quixotic hums.

"Wow!" Alexander mouthed at seeing the red Chaos Emerald.

**"****I bet you were very surprised seeing me,"** said the red Chaos Emerald, but unlike the cyan Chaos Emerald, the voice from the red Chaos Emerald was female, angelic, and polite.

Alexander gasped when he heard the red Chaos Emerald's voice, obviously taken aback from the gem's vocality. "Y-you talk, too?" he stammered at the gem.

**"****Mm-hmm,"** replied the red Chaos Emerald kindly.** "All seven of us talk. You just don't know it."**

"Oh," was all Alexander said.

The cyan Chaos Emerald just about had enough of the little chitchat between the two and forcefully interrupted, **"Okay, okay. That's enough talking here. We got more business to attend to."**

**"****Oh, come on, sir,"** said the red Chaos Emerald. **"We don't need another mission right now."**

**"****What are you talking about? Of course, we need to continue this mission now. The whole world's at stake."**

**"But it's getting close to nighttime. Do you think our new friend here needs some rest?"**

**"****Rest?" **exclaimed the cyan Chaos Emerald and shot out from Alexander's grip.** "I've heard _nothing_ of the sort."**

**"****But you're not human,"** argued the red Chaos Emerald and shot out from Alexander's grip, too.** "Unlike him, we don't feel pain."**

**"That's baloney! Of course we feel pain!"**

**"****Oh, yeah? When?" **the red Chaos Emerald challenged.

**"****Um…" **stammered the cyan Chaos Emerald, apparently lying through his shell.** "I forgot when, but I do remember feeling pain."**

**"****It doesn't really matter anyway," **continued the red Emerald.** "Our main priority for us now is to give our lost friend some shelter and food."**

**"****No. We should continue our mission and beat Dr. Eggman when he's down for the count,"** argued the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"Well," cut in Alexander, "I _am_ a little hungry and tired."

The cyan Chaos Emerald gasped and yelled, **_"WHAT!"_**

"Yes, I am hungry," finished Alexander. "We don't need to continue our search right now."

**"****But the deal–" **pleaded the cyan Chaos Emerald.

**"****Our search can resume tomorrow," **finished the red Chaos Emerald for him.** "Besides, unless Dr. Eggman has all of us, he's practically useless."**

The cyan Chaos Emerald just grumbled and huffed, apparently being too proud for his own good. Finally, he decided and said,** "Oh, all right. We'll do it tomorrow."**

Alexander sighed in relief, glad that this predicament was finished, even though he believed it would not be the last time that happened. "Well, now that's over with, let's go get some shelter." And he was about to head into the forest when he said, "But… I don't know where to find it."

**_CRASH!_**

Both gems collapsed to the ground from his carelessness, their tops imprinting the dirt.

**"****Oy, vey," **grumbled the cyan Chaos Emerald in annoyance and shook his shell back and forth.

**"****Don't worry, Alexander," **encouraged the red gem as she hovered in front of him.** "I'll show you a nice spot for shelter."**

Alexander smiled in delight. "Can you show me where, please?" he pleaded.

**"****Of course," **she chuckled back politely.** "Just follow me." **With that, she slowly drifted away into the thick forest.

Alexander's face drooped as he hung his head, annoyed. "I wish I didn't go back in there," he muttered, obviously remembering the difficulties from walking through it already.

**"****Don't worry, Alexander," **said the cyan Chaos Emerald in Alexander's right-hand side.** "With both of us around, you're bound to find us sooner or later."**

"Thanks for the encouragement," said Alexander and rolled his eyes, his voice dripping with minute sarcasm. 

**"****Hey, it's my pleasure," **beamed the cyan gem right back.

_**"**_**_HEY! COME ON, YOU TWO!"_ **shouted the red gem's female voice, her red aura glowing fervently. **_"I DON'T WANT BOTH OF YOU TO GET LOST!"_**

"_COMING!"_ both Alexander and the cyan Chaos Emerald called back and followed the red gem.

* * *

The sun would set even more as Alexander exited the forest, as the top of the sky now had tints of black, midnight blue, and brown. He caught up with the floating red Chaos Emerald a long time ago and had no problems traveling along with it. The forest looked dark, bleak, and scary; and the trek seemed very long, tiring, and confusing, but the Chaos Emeralds made him feel safe and reassured him that they knew what they were doing. Besides, he trusted them and had no ill will towards them, either. In other words, it was quite a nice travel. 

"I think we're back on the path again," said Alexander as he briefly glanced the area.

**"Not really,"** contradicted the red Chaos Emerald.** "This looks similar to the one you were at earlier, but it really isn't. Take a good look, and you'll see what I mean."**

And that was precisely what he did. As he observed the area, it turned out the Chaos Emerald was right after all. The gravel was covered with the same sienna dirt, but there were areas where ruins of walls were once built. The ruins were in marble bricks, along with some moss hanging over it like a very dusty drape. The pine trees were still in its blue-leaved shading, but they were more crowded and contained more leaves than the ones from Azure Lake. There were even two huge poles covered with thick green moss and ivy in the middle of the road, but there were some parts transparent enough to see the marble bricks off it.

"I think I know what you mean there," remarked Alexander as he finished glancing the area. "So, where are we now?"

**"****This is the Marble Garden Ruins," **answered the red Chaos Emerald.

Alexander whistled and glanced at the marble ruins again. "I can see why this place is called that," he concluded while observing the marble poles and decaying pieces of wall. "From how decayed the old remains of structure are, this whole stretch of land must've belonged to an ancient civilization a long time ago."

**"Exactly," **said the red gem as she floated to where Alexander could see her.** "A long time ago, an ancient echidna tribe roamed these lands, but they've long since died. And some of the old ruins of what you see now are some what still remains here."**

"Wow!" gasped Alexander, taken aback by the red jewel's short summary.

**"****I know," **responded the red jewel.** "You know, for someone who's young, battered, bruised, and dirty, you're a pretty smart for a kid."**

Alexander blushed (for both the compliment and the fact that he was both dirty and wounded) and scratched the back of his head with his left hand. "Well, even though I mainly grew up with a couple of sleazy people, I have learned quite a bit."

**"****Sleazy people?"** queried the red jewel.** "What are you talking about?"**

**"****His former guardians named Carddall and Mannato treated him like garbage,"** the cyan jewel replied as he hovered next to her.

**"WHAT!"** roared the red Chaos Emerald indignantly, her red glow expanding drastically out of rage. **"YOU'RE KIDDING ME!" **

**"****Nope. Alexander told me while we were heading to the Midnight Grove."**

The red jewel began growling as her aura flared dangerously.** "Whenever I get the chance to see them, they… are…_ DEAD!"_**

Alexander, meanwhile, could not help but laugh at the display of emotion from both gems, namely the red one. "Don't worry about that," he smirked. "I can assure you I won't be seeing them again for a while."

**"****I hope so,"** snarled the red jewel crossly. Then, out of nowhere, she calmed down and said,** "Now, that's over with, let's find you the shelter." **And she floated away, as if nothing ever happened.

Both Alexander and the cyan Chaos Emerald looked at each other quizzically at the sudden change of emotion from the red Emerald, but kept quiet and followed her.

* * *

His journey would last for quite some time. The trail led them through the Marble Garden Ruins, past several acres of blue-leaved pine trees, and walked across a little brook that split the forest. The sky got a little bit darker as the three explored the area, too. The top of the sky was now black that followed by streaks of chocolate brown, violet, red, and gold, with some specks of orange coming from the sun's strong aura. 

"Are you sure this is the right direction?" asked Alexander to the red Chaos Emerald.

**"****Positive, Alexander," **replied the red Emerald.** "I know this area like a map."**

"I hope you're right, ma'am," said Alexander doubtfully and looked up at the colorful sky above.

**"****Believe me, Alexander," **said the cyan Chaos Emerald.** "She knows."**

Nothing more would be said for quite some time as they continued to walk along the path that separated the Marble Garden Ruins, but that didn't mean Alexander was going to keep his brain shut as he started to grow very impatient with the Emeralds' slow speeds. _"The walk's just lasting forever, especially with how slow the Chaos Emeralds are hovering,"_ he thought with a grumble. _"Are we ever going to find this shelter that they had promised me? If so, when will that be?"_

He then turned around to look at where the sun had set. _"And it's getting very close to nightfall. I just wish they hurry up and find it already." _He then sighed with a tint of impatience and closed his eyes, hoping that his self-concentration would ultimately calm him down.

**"****Aah. Here we are!"** chortled the red Chaos Emerald.

Alexander snapped his eyes open when he heard its voice and looked up. He was now at the base of Angel Mountain, which the summit glazed in the evening light while looking down upon not only the forest that protected it, but also the three explorers. At Angel Mountain's base was a wide and tall corridor. The bricks were made out of sand, and some fragments of gold and copper reflected off both the sunlight and the Chaos Emeralds' auras.

"Where are we?" Alexander asked.

**"****This is the passageway to your shelter," **the red jewel replied as it hovered to Alexander's eye level.

_"It__'s about darn time we got there," _Alexander thought crossly and huffed. "So, the way to the shelter is through this doorway?" he asked them while pointing at it with his right hand.

**"****That's correct, young man,"** said the red Chaos Emerald.

Alexander smiled. He was finally going to get some much-needed hospitality that he has yet to receive for almost the entire afternoon. "Ready or not, here I come!" he whooped and ran through the corridor and out of sight.

**"****Alex, _wait for us!"_ **cried the gems and glided hurriedly after the excited teenager, but he was already long gone when they entered.

* * *

The two Chaos Emeralds quickly reached the other side of the corridor not long after the chase started and looked around. The path was very spacious and was covered with tall three-foot grass, its green tips sparkling in the sunlight as they danced in the soft, mystical breeze. 

The left side of the path was covered in nothing but forest. Acres and acres of green-leaved evergreen trees the height of short skyscrapers penetrated into the atmosphere, each tip glowing in the dusk sky. The bark was rough and ragged, but it was smooth enough and crumbly enough for small flocks of pigeons to make the trees their own homes. And the ground was covered with nothing but soft, vivid green grass that swayed in the soft breeze that currently blew.

On the right side of that path, dozens of huge boulders slept, its marble, zinc, and diamond minerals shining in the light. The right side of the path – as well as the corridor – also stood the valley of Angel Mountain. The narrow crevices and eaves above caused a huge shadow that looked a lot like a crescent moon. And the peaks from within the valley high up in the sky glistened with orange light.

The Chaos Emeralds, however, were not there to enjoy the scenery. Alexander was missing.

**"****Alex!"** called the Chaos Emeralds, but to no avail; Alexander did not respond.

**"****Where is he?" **said the red Chaos Emerald to herself.

**"****I'm not sure," **replied the cyan one,** "but I'm pretty positive he's nearby." **After clearing his… "throat…" he hollered again.** "Alexander, where are you?"**

**"****Alexander!" **called the red gem again as it hovered over the tall grass, but he was still nowhere to be found.

**"****Yo, Alexandeeeerrrr!"** hollered the cyan Chaos Emerald again as he entered the forest.** "Hey, Alex, where in the world_ are you!"_ **he added, saying the last two words with frustrating emphasis.

**"****Alex, CAN YOU HEAR ME!"** the red gem shouted again, but the voice was so loud, it echoed throughout the whole valley.

After a long time with no response, the two gems rendezvoused at the entrance to the valley; and when they did, they were both very annoyed and _very _cross.

**"****Boy, that child can get on my nerves sometimes," **snarled the ruby-shaded Chaos Emerald.

The cerulean jewel huffed crossly and sighed.** "Yeah. Me, too."**

**"****Why did he do that anyway?"**

The cyan gem shook his shell.** "Dunno," **was his reply.

The red gemstone sighed exasperatedly and continued.** "Even though I'm a bit annoyed with him, do you think he's okay?"** she wondered concernedly.

**"****I hope so," **said the other Emerald, feeling some worry from within, as well.

**"****I'll keep looking for him," **replied the red jewel and floated a little higher above the swaying grass.** "I'm very worried and fear his safety."**

"I don't think that will be necessary," interrupted a mischievous voice suddenly.

The Chaos Emeralds screamed startlingly and twirled high in the air when they heard that. When they were able to regain control of their own shelly selves, they looked down and noticed Alexander's head protruding from the grass, sporting a huge evil grin while trying to suppress his laughter.

**"****Alex!"** shouted the gems.** "What the devil WERE YOU_ THINKING!"_**

"Well, since you decided to haunt me, I decided to do it back to you," laughed Alexander, his eyes gleaming sinisterly at them.

**"****What are you _talking_ about?" **asked the red Chaos Emerald.** "I would do nothing of the sort."**

Alexander's evil glare then gleamed dangerously at the cyan Chaos Emerald. "I know," he said slowly.

The cyan Chaos Emerald's only response was a sweat-drop that drooped from the right side.

The red Chaos Emerald looked at her companion and flared her aura threateningly at him while Alexander just shook his head, his sinister grin still on his face.

"It doesn't matter to me now," he laughed. "The thing is now I got my revenge."

**"****You think you do?"** said the Chaos Emeralds in unison, and before Alexander could respond, the Chaos Emeralds zoomed off again.

Alexander hung his head and groaned loudly. "Me and my big mouth," he muttered to himself and chased after them.

* * *

His chase would last a while as he had to keep up with to speeding Chaos Emeralds while not trying to trip over any small rocks that might be hiding from within the tall grass. No such luck. 

_**CRASH!**_

"Oof!" he reacted when he face-planted into the dirt after tripping over a small rock underneath.

Groaning loudly, he pushed himself up and brushed the grass and its pollen off his bag and himself. "I think I'm getting very tired of playing this game," he groaned as he held his left shoulder, which was getting very sore from his trip. "I just want this over with so I can find the shelter." And he started walking through the three-foot grass, but not without tripping over, yet, another rock.

**"****I guess you now learned something,"** chortled the cyan Chaos Emerald as he and the his red comrade glided out of the forest and hovered over Alexander, spinning themselves around and around like a top.

"Yeah," said Alexander, his annoyed voice muffled by the dirt, _"never _fool around with the Chaos Emeralds." And he got back to his feet again, spitting out the dirt with quite a bit of force. "I guess that means we're even then," he told them as he wiped the grass off his shoulders and his head.

The two Chaos Emeralds glowed and spun around Alexander's head, still feeling very merry after getting some payback on the foolish child.

**"****Yes,"** said the red Chaos Emerald.

**"****We…" **the cyan Emerald replied.

**"…****Can…"**

**"…****Agree…"**

**"…****On…"**

**"…****That!"** both gemstones finished as they hovered at Alex's level of his chest.

"Good," smiled Alexander, finally glad that their little confrontation ended. "Now, ma'am," he gestured to the red Emerald on his right, "can you two show me the little hospitality you were talking about?"

**"****Oh, of course,"** realized the red Emerald. **"I forgot." **And she began floating away down the path.

Alexander and the cyan gem looked at each other and followed her.

For Alexander, he was getting very excited about this form of shelter that the red Chaos Emerald talked about. He was not sure what it was, but he had a very good feeling that it would be a good one.

Whatever it was, he could not wait.

As for the cyan gem, he had a gut feeling (if it can be called that) where his red partner was going, but he kept quiet so that his human friend would be surprised. Besides, he always loved a good surprise or two.

As for the red jewel, she had everything according to plan. She already knew where the shelter was, and she was going to make sure Alexander would be welcomed. In addition, she trusted her cyan companion into not blowing her cover. So far, it was all going according to plan.

The three-foot grass completely camouflaged the ground to about Alexander's stomach level, and it made it very tough for him to cross. Especially since he does not know when a small rock is nearby, waiting for him to have a nice trip.

And, then… it happened.

_**CRASH!**_

Alexander tripped over a rock and crashed face-first into the ground, his face implanting into the dirt below.

The cyan gem shook his shell at Alexander's carelessness (even though he thought it was a little funny), while the red gem resisted herself from laughing her shell off.

**"****You should be careful whenever crossing this plain here, Alexander,"** warned the red Chaos Emerald as she hovered a little bit above the ground, trying to stifle a chuckle.

"Yeah. Thanks for the advice," grumbled Alexander sarcastically, his voice muffled by the grass. "It sure helps me a lot right now." Once more, he pushed himself up and stared at the ground with a cross look on his face. Deep within the grass was a small rock. It was wide and flat on the bottom, with a small bump on the top. The sides were covered with white marble with the rest of the body glittered with crystal.

_"__Stupid rock," _he thought crossly and kicked it with his left foot. Big mistake.

"Yeowch!" he howled and started hopping up and down while clutching his left foot.

The cyan Chaos Emerald could not hold it in much longer and guffawed.** "You definitely know how to make a fool of yourself when you're frustrated,"** he laughed.

Alexander, still holding onto to his throbbing foot, collapsed on the grass, narrowly missing the rock he kicked by a few inches. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh at me for being such a comedy relief for you two," he snarled as he put his bag down on his right, parallel to his right leg. He then took off his left shoe (while keeping his white sweat sock on) and messaged it with his hands.

The red gem sadly sighed and hovered to Alexander's face-level, no longer in the mood for laughing. Instead, she became very remorseful and pitied the Halbery child.** "You feeling okay, Alex?" **she asked while "staring" concernedly at his face.

Alexander looked up at the gem, casting his dark look straight at her. Finally, he sighed and said, "Yeah, I'm alright." And he continued to rub the top of his foot again.

**"****Well, you don't seem to be fine,"** she responded back.

"Trust me. I'm fine," said Alexander sternly as he placed his shoe on his foot.

The red Chaos Emerald sighed sadly at Alexander's frustration. It seemed to be a tough road for him, as what she thought. **"I'm sorry that you're frustrated, Alexander," **she sighed as she landed on the Halbery child's right shoulder. For some reason, she was able to keep her balance on it; she was an inanimate object, so she should be falling. However, she could float, and balancing was easy for her.

Alexander looked at his red comrade with turquoise eyes that contained frustration, impatience, and anxiety. However, he turned his head away and continued tying his shoe.

The red Chaos Emerald sighed grumblingly and looked at the cyan Chaos Emerald behind her.** "Give me some help here," **she whispered and shined her aura at his direction.

He, however, turned his "back" and hovered a little away from her, as if timid of her appearance.

The female-voiced gem grumbled and sarcastically muttered,** "Thanks for staying by my side,"** before turning to an exasperated Alexander again. **"Look, I'm very sorry that this road for you has had many ups and downs, but things will get better. Trust me."**

Alexander finished tying his shoe and gazed at her. That was when a confrontation of thoughts occurred in the middle of his brain.

Sure, he felt all three of them could be partners or teammates for the "upcoming battle," but the only mention of this bad person was that he or she was named Dr. Eggman (thanks to the little argument between both gems). So, he finally had the name, but who was this person in particular? Furthermore, what was this person capable of?

As for trusting the red Chaos Emerald, he knew he could count on both her and her friend, but frustration was taking over. In conclusion, he did not know what to do. Should he trust her or not? He was just at a confusing standstill.

"To be frank, ma'am," said Alexander, "I don't know what to think."

**"****What do you mean?" **the red gem asked.

Alexander sighed and explained. "I don't know. Maybe it's just frustration brewing inside me."

**"****What d'ya mean 'frustration'?" **wondered the cyan Chaos Emerald as he hovered in front of Alexander, but far away enough so the red jewel would not give him a good what-for.

"I'm not quite sure, to be exact," replied Alexander. "But it seems that my patience is starting to wear." He then added in thought, _"And it's something that I'm trying to curb."_

The red Chaos Emerald did not understand what Alexander meant, but she had a vague guess.** "I assume you're mentioning the long day you were in," **she hypothesized.

"Yeah, perhaps," sighed Alex.

**"****Don't worry, Alexander,"** encouraged the cyan Chaos Emerald.** "In mere moments, you'll be relaxing for the rest of the evening."**

_**"**_**_And_ through the night,"** added the red Chaos Emerald as she jumped off Alexander's right shoulder and flew beside her cyan counterpart.

Alexander smiled, but raised his right eyebrow at both of them. "Are you tryin' to spoil me?" he quizzed.

Both Chaos Emeralds glowed a little more brightly, as if blushing from Alexander's quip.

**"****Sorry, Alexander," **blushed the cyan Chaos Emerald.** "We tend to do that sometimes."**

"Don't worry about it," laughed Alexander and got to his feet. "Right now, let's just go that shelter you two were talking about."

**"****_Right!"_** both gems obliged and continued trekking through the grass.

That walk, however, was about to become brisk.

_**BOOM!**_

All three froze as a huge explosion rocked the island back and forth.

"What was that!" cried Alexander upon hearing the explosion.

He would ultimately get his answer when he looked a little bit ahead of him. There, he saw Knuckles (while gliding), Sonic (in a blue supersonic blur), and a big yellow hammer peaking out from within the grass (the hammer was bright yellow, and it had a red middle along the cylinder part of it). There, the two occupants quickly ran from the left side of the forest to the other.

"Where are they going to?" wondered Alexander to himself. Suddenly, he smelled something coming from behind him. It smelled like… smoke. When he looked behind and overhead, he gasped loudly. "I think I found the smoke!" he called and pointed at it with his right index finger.

Both Emeralds looked up, too, and noticed a huge, black mushroom cloud coming from the right side of the forest.

**"****Uh oh,"** whimpered the Chaos Emeralds.** "This is not good."**

Then, the red Chaos Emerald looked away from the cloud and to where Alexander was standing.** "Alexander, you better run. This place is no–"**

_**WHOOSH!**_

But she was cut off when Alexander zoomed by them and followed Sonic and the hammer-carrier.

Both gems looked at each other and quickly floated over the grass and to a path that split the forest. The path on the left side went down and went left on the curve while the other side of the path bended around and down towards Angel Mountain.

**"****Alexander, get back here! It's too dangerous!"** hollered the cyan Chaos Emerald toward Alexander's back as he ran hurriedly down the right side of the path.

Unfortunately, Alexander was too far away to hear him.

After nodding to each other, both gems quickly zoomed after the troublesome child. They would soon catch up to him and looked at him both worryingly and angrily.

**"****What in Mobius are you doing!"** cried the red Chaos Emerald.

**"****Yeah!" **chimed in the cyan one.** "You're running into trouble."**

"I know," said Alexander seriously, "but I'm curious to see what this is all about." He then quickly added in thought, _"And thanks for inadvertently telling me the name of the dimension I'm in now."_

**"****Even if you do, you'll be killed!"** argued the red Chaos Emerald. Neither she nor the cyan jewel read his mind.

**"****Yeah,"** exclaimed the cyan Chaos Emerald.** "Then what about the deal between the two of us?"**

The red gem groaned disgustedly at her comrade's remarks and shifted her "gaze" towards her friend.** "Forget the silly deal. We have a child to protect."**

**"****I know. That's why I mentioned the deal just moments ago."**

**"****_Who cares!"_ **barked the red gem shrilly, her aura flaring.** _"Let's just protect the child here!"_**

**"****Gotcha!" **the cyan gemstone obliged and made his glow into the form of a salute, but when they returned their attention towards Alexander, he already ran ahead and was far away from them.

**"****_ALEXANDER! WAAAIIT!"_** they cried out and quickly flew after him.

They would catch up with him in the forest. There, he was hiding behind one of the tall evergreen trees, staring intently at the event in front of him.

**"****Alexander,"** they hissed, **"what were you _doing?"_**

"Shh!" hissed Alexander, his left index finger over his mouth. "Look at this." And he turned to the scene. There, he saw Sonic the Hedgehog on the right; Knuckles the Echidna in the middle; and a pink hedgehog holding the huge hammer on the left.

The pink hedgehog was… well… pink all over her body. She was about as tall as Sonic and she looked fierce. Her face had a beige muzzle with a black nose in the middle; and she had eyes and irises that matched Sonic's. Between her eyes were three tuffs of hair that drooped downward; and on her head were two hedgehog-like ears and a huge red hair braid behind her ears. Hanging on the back of her head were five strands of hair, parallel from each other.

Her chest was covered with a ruby-red dress that expanded into an angular bottom. The rims of both the neck and end of the dress were gray, and they flashed in the light. Her arms were peach and had a golden bracelet on each wrist. Following the bracelets were two white gloves on each hand.

The legs were pink, and the end of her tail protruded from her dress. Her white socks were tight and finely cuffed (not casually like Sonic's), her big red boots had a white stripe along the top that flowed down to the toe, and her soles were grey with a small hump in the heel.

Finally, resting on her left shoulder was a huge hammer. The yellow handle was thin in the end and a little bit fatter toward the head. The head of the mallet was yellow on each side, and the middle of the head was red with four rectangles that were spaced out and wrapped around.

Meanwhile, hovering in the air, in front of the mushroom cloud, was Dr. Eggman in his custom-made hovercraft. It looked like an oversized half-ball, but with many contraptions. There were three wings bordered in grey; one in the back and two on each side. There was a grey chair rest in the cockpit, with a red chair cushion in it (a cushion for Eggman to either sit or lean on). In front was a clear windshield, the border bolted in grey.

The body was also gray. In front was a green laser with the edge bordered in blood red and looking like a magnifying glass. Along each side of the laser are three compartments, each holding missiles. Wrapped around the side and the back are dark gray with a huge stripe containing both black and yellow diagonals.

Finally, on the bottom of the hovercraft was a red upside-down triangle, and it had a small yellow sphere in the middle.

"Eggman," barked Knuckles, "what are you doing here? There's no business of you invading here in the first place!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Eggman and scratched his head with his right hand, faking confusion.

"_So, _he's _Dr. Eggman," _thought Alexander in the background.

"You know what you're talking about!" shouted Sonic.

"Oh, do I?" mocked Eggman. Then, his smile bared huge white teeth and showed evil eyebrows. "Why, of course, you nitwits! You give me the Chaos Emeralds right now or I will destroy you on the spot!"

The pink hedgehog, named Amy Rose, huffed and tapped the head of her hammer with her left palm. "Like we would," she said. Her voice was a little bit high-pitched, more resembled as a small eight year-old's tone, but other than that, it was very angelic. "And besides, we don't have any Chaos Emeralds for you to steal!"

Eggman smirked. "You think?" he said evilly. "Well, who cares? Since you won't get out of this battle alive!" And he pressed an unknown button with his left hand.

"Now, what's he up to?" grumbled Knuckles, not taking his attention of Eggman.

"Beats me," Amy replied.

Meanwhile, Alexander and the two Chaos Emeralds watched from the background.

"What's Eggman up to now, guys?" he asked as he peaked behind him.

**"****He's calling for reinforcements," **whimpered the red Chaos Emerald.

"What reinforcements?"

**"****Robots,"** she answered back.** "Lots of them."**

**"****And he uses them to help him destruct,"** added the cyan Chaos Emerald.

Alexander gulped. "That's not good."

Both gems glowed a little more brightly in a quick millisecond.

Alexander nodded and looked ahead, watching intently at Eggman's antics. So far, nothing happened, making the scene very traumatizing. While his eyes were on the potential battle, his mid was on something else. Why was he so obsessed with the Chaos Emerald? Why did he want them, and what was he going to do with them?

"Remember earlier this evening when you said that unless Eggman had the Chaos Emeralds, he was a nobody?" After an acknowledgement from the two Emeralds, Alex asked them, "Why does he want them?"

**"****He wants us for world domination," **said the cyan Chaos Emerald timidly.

Alexander gulped when he heard that. "World domination?"

**"****Mm-hmm,"** he acknowledged.** "He wants all seven of us because it will give him greater power and potential on conquering the world."**

Alexander responded with another gulp. "That's not good," he reiterated.

**"****No, it ain't,"** quivered the cyan gem.

**"****And you know what that means, Alexander?"** asked the red gemstone.

"No, what is that?"

Without saying another word, both Chaos Emeralds magically opened Alexander's travel bag and dove right in it.

**"****Tell us to come out when the battle's over," **they said meekly and zipped it again, but not without magically locking it in the process.

"_Darn it!" _Alexander cursed in thought before looking back towards the fight scene.

Back at the fight scene, Sonic, Tails, and Amy waited for Dr. Eggman's diabolical scheme to come into place, but it did not come that quickly. They just waited and waited and waited. It was like time stood still, especially since the purple clouds were swiftly blowing away. The sun was setting, and the wind briskly wafted through the dust like it was in such a hurry.

And so, they just waited and waited. When finally…

"It's show time!" called Eggman.

Suddenly, loud roaring engines echoed the valley, causing the dirt and sand on the track to fly and dance. Everyone, minus Dr. Eggman, closed their eyes and covered their faces to keep their vision safe.

When the wind died down, everyone looked up at the mushroom cloud behind Eggman, and out came a fleet of steel jets. They each looked as small as a quarter from the background from the background, but their actual sizes were much larger, about 100 times larger, to be exact!

The front of the jets were black, and the rest of the body was steel gray. The windshields contained one big white eye, with an antenna as tall as the width as a flat-screen television. Two wings (one on each side) had a sharp point at each end, looking like right triangles; and the bottom of each wing had a small tube connected on it. The back of the jets had two huge engines, one on each side; and the front part of the back wing had the same tube as the ones on the lower front wings.

Finally, the front of each jet had this "mechanism," something that ordinary machines did _not _have. The nose of each jet split open…

"_GGGGGRRRAAAAAAAWWWWWWRRRRRR!"_

…And they unleashed an echoing roar.

"AAAHHHHH!" cried the animals as they all covered their ears.

Eggman laughed. "That's more like it. Now, attack!"

Suddenly, several jets nosedived towards Sonic, Knuckles, and Amy at insurmountable speed.

That was when Sonic made his counterattack as he jumped high in the sky, curled into a ball, and shot at the jets (letting off a bright blue light trail on the way).

Sonic's homing attack hit one of the fighter jets, then ping-ponged to another one next to it, then hit five more planes. All them exploded with a deafening _boom _the moment Sonic crashed into them.

"Well," said Sonic as he landed in front of the echidna and girl hedgehog, "that's a few of them we wiped out."

"I'm aware of that, hedgehog," yawned Eggman, his right arm on his cheek. "However, you and your friends still have over 400 of them to destroy." A vile, tooth-baring grin spread across his face. "I like to see you try that."

"And we will!" shrilled a boy's voice.

Eggman looked up to his left and saw a dark blue plane heading his way. The plane was very small, but it looked like a miniature jet. The front had a transparent yellow cap with a sharp point on the end. The next was a black engine that was about the size as the flat part of the coned tip, but not without expanding a little bit outward.

The body was very wide and round. The top of the body was an open cockpit with a see-through baby-blue windshield. The bottom was the jet's fuel tank. It was painted black and was about as long as a torpedo, yellow fire shooting from behind. Along the sides of the body were four wings, two on each side. They were covered in blue (with a yellow stripe on the front and a black tip on the end), and they made the shape of a wide "X." While the top wings really did nothing, the bottom wings had air vents in the front.

After the body came the tail. The tail bent upward and decreased in size, then stretched back a little bit further, and protruding from the top of the tail was a right-triangle-like wing (with one small blue wings coming out from each side of the back wing).

Another part was its decoration. The front of the body had a yellow stripe, with the same yellow shade along the bottom of both the body and the tail. Finally, on each side of the plane's rear wing, two tails curved outward towards the back end of it. The tails were golden yellow and had a puffy white end on each tail.

Inside the cockpit was a golden fox. His muzzle was white (with four tuffs of fur on each end) and had a small black nose in the middle. His eyes were oval-shaped and contained bright blue irises. Between his eyes were three tuffs of gold hair, and the corners of his forehead had huge, fox-shaped ears. Over his eyes were huge goggles. The lenses were circular and had a chocolate brown strap.

His arms were golden and had white gloves on each hand (gloves that were each cuffed and wrapped with a black strap on each wrist). Behind him are two huge, fluffy, tails. Both tails were golden and were white and puffy at each end.

Other than that, the cockpit covered the rest of his body.

Miles "Tails" Prower pressed a button on top of his wheel, and bullets flied out from the top of the black ring.

Before the jets could react, several of them exploded once the bullets hit them.

Eggman growled and slammed the sides of his fists on the top of his cockpit. "Darn that Tails," he roared.

Meanwhile, Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles cheered the fox on.

"Way to go, Tails!" called Sonic.

"Keep at 'em!" called Amy.

Tails winked at his friends with his right eye. "You think I miss all the fun?" he chortled as he spun around.

"No way," laughed Sonic, then pumped his right fist. "Now let's scramble this Eggman!"

"Yeah!" the others cheered.

Eggman scowled at Sonic's wisecrack. "You'll pay for that, Sonic," he growled.

Meanwhile, from the background, Alexander could not help but snicker at the remark.

"FIRE AWAY!" roared Eggman, signaling his jets to attack.

Then, one by one, the planes descended towards Sonic and his gang… again.

"You like to play fire with fire, don't ya?" said Sonic and used the homing attack once again, destroying several fighter jets along the way.

Knuckles bared his eyes up towards two-dozen planes that nosedived in his direction. "My turn," he growled and flared a bright red aura around him. Suddenly, he jolted towards the jets and gave each of them one gigantic punch with his big fists.

_**BOOM!**_

And once he finished his boxing match, all 24 planes exploded in one go.

"Yo! Don't leave me out of the party!" shouted Amy and made her hammer glow a bright pink aura. Suddenly, her hammer became twice as large. Then, she flicked it like a boomerang at several planes that headed towards her. It tore right through several of the jets' structures, making them explode on impact.

Eggman roared in frustration at seeing all his creations being pummeled to smithereens

_"That egghead is about to be scrambled," _thought Alexander from the background.

"Grr! _That does it!" _howled the doctor and pressed another button that hid from everyone's view.

"What's Eggman up to now?" wondered Tails after destroying several more jets.

Suddenly, all the fighters glowed a poisonous green glow, a glow that had some demonic chill in it. The chill was so disturbing, even Eggman shivered in fear.

Suddenly, the planes that nosedived towards Amy fired missiles from the tube contraptions from their wings.

"Amy, run!" shouted Tails from high in the sky.

Amy did not have to be told twice and quickly fell back, running as fast as her legs let her. _"C'mon, feet," _she thought. _"Make me run like the wind."_

Her thoughts would soon end.

_**BOOM!**_

"_AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" _Amy yelled as the explosion threw her far away from the area.

"AMY!" cried Sonic.

"_HA_-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-_HA!"_ Eggman laughed evilly at the expense of both Sonic's reaction and his own enjoyment. "You think _that's _something. Well, you ain't seen nothin' yet!"

"Now, what does he mean by that?" asked Alexander to himself, still peaking out from the forest in the background.

He would soon get his answer when he heard these words from Sonic. "TAILS, BEHIND YOU!"

Alexander then looked up and noticed Tails, in his plane, was being chased by ten of Eggman's flying machines. "This is not good," Alexander said to himself.

And he was right, for one of the planes fired at Tails.

Tails screamed when he saw the upcoming missile and attempted to pull the plane up higher, so he could dodge it.

It unfortunately failed when the plane's engine suddenly died, courtesy of the fighter's missile.

"Oh, no! I'm hit!" he shouted, and he nosedived into is distance, his screaming echoing throughout the whole valley.

"_TAAAAIIIIILLLLSS!" _Sonic screamed as the plane started falling.

Meanwhile, Tails, in an attempt to break free from disaster, uncoupled his seat belt and twirled his tails counterclockwise, making them spin like helicopter propellers. After spinning his tails, he quickly flew away from the nose-diving plane.

He wound up escaping just in time…

_**CRASH!**_

…For the plane crashed into an area near the battle.

Alexander, from the forest, watched Tails's escape and sighed in relief. "That was a close one," he said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"You okay, Tails?" asked Knuckles as the fox touched down.

Now, the rest of Tails's body was exposed. The chest and stomach were slim. The front part of his body was covered in white fur with three tuffs sprouting on each side of his chest. His stubby legs were golden, just like his head, body, and back. On each of his feet were cuffed white socks, a black strap on each ankle, huge sneakers that were half-red along the heel and white towards the feet, and soles that were on the bottom of each shoe.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," said Tails as he took off his goggles and put them away.

"Good," said Sonic, who was on Knuckles's left.

"Oh, talk about a touchy reunion," said Eggman sarcastically.

All three turned their attention towards the mischievous doctor, who was still floating high in the air.

"Even though you fuzzballs had a tough time dealing with my robots, you still haven't seen its absolute potential."

"Oh, yeah? And what do you mean by _that, _Eggman?" huffed Sonic.

"I mean this!" answered Eggman and snapped both his right middle and thumb fingers.

There, all the remaining robots glowed a bright yellow aura, replacing the green aura from moments earlier.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles had no idea what Eggman was planning, but they all knew that it was something troublesome, something vile.

Alexander felt that, too. "I don't know what he's planning, but I'm sure to myself that it ain't good."

He would soon wish he kept his mouth shut.

When the glowing concluded, what was left of all the jets was a huge torpedo that was 30 feet in length and eight feet in circumference. The body was steel gray; the front tip of the missile was black; and ten small wings connected along its rear.

"Me and my big mouth," muttered Sonic.

Eggman chortled evilly at both the panic in the three beings and the huge missile floating above. "What's the matter?" he mocked. "Cat got your tongue?"

No response.

That gave Eggman even more confidence. "Well, all I can say now is what are your final words before you go bye-bye." He said the last two words with a small wave with his right hand and with a baby-like voice.

"How about the moment this comes down, we scramble you?" retorted Tails.

Dr. Eggman's face drooped frustratingly. "From those snotty words, _kid,_ you _and _the others just received the death penalty." And he snapped his fingers with the same hand and the same fingers.

Suddenly, the torpedo started to nosedive towards the three people below.

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles watched as the missile dove towards them, wondering what to do and to how to get out of this mess.

As for Alexander, his mind and body only told him one thing: _"Run for it!", _and that was exactly what he did. He ran as fast as he could towards the thick pine forest, hoping to get as far away from the missile as he can.

"_C'mon, feet! C'mon!" _he thought angrily to himself. _"Get me away fr–"_

_**BOOM!**_

"AAHHH!" cried Alexander as the force of the explosion made him fly into the air and fall face-first into the ground.

The explosion and impact created another huge mushroom cloud. It was not as big as the one from earlier, but still carried a lot of force and power.

Coughing loudly, Alexander pushed himself to his feet and moved his hands back and forth to clear the smoke from his face.

"Talk about a big explosion," he groaned as he clutched the back of his head with his right hand. He then picked up his bag with his left hand, but not without groaning from a bit of pain in his left shoulder. "I think I bruised it," he said in a strained voice.

**"****You can say that again," **interrupted the Chaos Emeralds from within the bag, not daring to come out.

Alexander merely peaked at the bag and started walking again. However, he did not where to go this time. He just wanted to get away from the battle and stay as safe as possible. He also wondered what possible ways he could do to mourn Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, who he assumed died in the blast.

Just as he walked further into the forest, he suddenly tripped over something and fell down into the fading smoke.

"Great, another stupid rock I tripped on," muttered Alexander frustratingly as he got back up. Then, he started to turn around to where he tripped over the object. "And once I see it's a rock, I'll be tossing it into… the… sea." He would soon stop talking when he looked further into the object he tripped on.

It was a small treasure chest, about one and three-quarter feet in length, one foot in width, and ten inches in height (minus the top). The top was round, looking like a half-cylinder. The body was covered with brass metal, and the corners, sides, and hinges were bolted in platinum.

Alexander looked down at it with a lot of intent. "Very interesting. I wonder what's inside." Letting his curiosity conquer his mind, he opened the treasure chest.

Meanwhile, back at the scene of destruction, just moments after the missile hit, Eggman started to laugh maniacally.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, _yes!" _laughed Eggman, feeling that his mission was a success. "This has become such a happy evening for me! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! It looks like it's the end of the great Sonic the Hedgehog!" After one more laugh, he got to his feet – while trying to keep his balance – and saluted. "Well, it looks like this war has come to an end. So, I'll just say farewell, my friends." And for some reason, he started bawling his eyes out, his hot, salty tears falling down his cheeks. Then, still feeling blue, he grabbed a tissue with his left hand and blew his nose hard.

His mourning looked like it was not going to end. Then, through the tissue, his eyebrows furrowed sinisterly again.

"Yeah, right! Like _I _would pity that slow pipsqueak!" he cackled, feeling all cheery again. "Farewell, my _ex-_rival. Time for me to continue conquering the world." And to add insult to injury, he flashed the bi-da taunt at the cloud's direction.

"Well, well, well. Thank you for the gesture," said Sonic's sarcastic voice.

Suddenly, a strong wind erupted through the valley, making the mushroom cloud vanish. In its place stood Knuckles and Tails, both not injured and feeling refreshed. In front of them stood Sonic, a bright yellow glow dancing around his blue body.

"You're kidding me!" gasped Eggman, his mouth open so wide, the back of the mouth could be seen.

"Nope, you're looking at the same ol' me!" teased Sonic and tossed a small golden ring in his left hand.

Then, before Eggman could make a rebuttal, Sonic launched a homing attack at Eggman and his cruiser.

Eggman shrilled like a girl as Sonic crashed into Eggman, forcing both the doctor and his vehicle into the dusty ground below.

A few moments later, Sonic returned to normal and walked towards Eggman, who was slumping over the windshield, coughing and wheezing from some of the dust that caught in his throat.

"So, what d'ya have to say for yourself now, Eggy?" taunted Sonic, who was tapping his right foot and had his arms crossed over his chest.

After another sharp cough, Dr. Eggman faced his three foes. "This isn't over, hedgehog. Not even close."

"Darn right!" shouted a female voice shrilly. Coming down the path towards Eggman was Amy Rose. The rim of her dress was burned, and her footwear was badly ripped. Other than that, she was fine.

She also bore a _very _angry look in her eyes and mouth as she tapped the head of her mallet threateningly into her open left palm. "Mind if I do the honors?" she asked her group, not taking her eyes of Dr. Eggman.

Everyone obliged and crept away from her.

"That's good," smiled Amy. She then flashed Eggman with an extremely evil glint in her eyes. "It's payback time."

Eggman could do nothing but whimper two words, "Uh… oh…"

_**BAM!**_

"_GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" _Eggman screamed as he – and his hovercraft – blasted off over Angel Mountain and into the horizon.

The three males smiled at her handiwork, but Amy was a little disappointed in herself.

"I know I should've worked on my swing earlier today," the female hedgehog muttered as she put her hammer away.

"But it's still a good one," smiled Sonic, his right thumb sticking up in the air.

"Yeah, you sure showed him," laughed Tails, his arms wrapped behind his neck.

"Yeah," said Knuckles. "You should've seen his reaction when we all escaped his attack. It was like he saw a ghost."

Sonic laughed. "Yeah, a real, live ghost." Everyone began laughing from that oxymoron.

"Well, now that's over now, let's get back to the shrine," said Knuckles, something to which everyone agreed on. Afterwards, they started walking back up the path towards where they came from.

Their concerns were soon about to come up again.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Everyone gasped as a boy's scream echoed throughout the valley. Feeling concerned and scared for this person, they all raced into the forest – where the scream came from.

Everyone was getting very worried at the sudden scream of pain and terror. They had never heard it before, and they had no idea who it was. It was just heart-pounding.

They were able to reach the approximated area from where the scream was located the loudest. There, they began looking high and low to find this mysterious person.

"Where could he be?" wondered Amy worryingly after looking through a small bush.

"I don't know, Amy," said Sonic, who was a little bit in the background. "But wherever he is, we'll find him."

"I bet that scream gave you the willies," said Knuckles as he climbed down the tree and crashed towards the ground.

"You bet it did," agreed Amy and hugged herself. "And I can still feel it up my spine."

"Soniiiic!"

Everyone gasped as they heard Tails's cry and quickly ran to where Tails was located. He was crouching behind a small bush, his eyes and ears peaking over it.

"What is it, buddy?" wondered Sonic to the fox.

"I think we found our mysterious guy!" whimpered Tails, his voice a little shaky out of fright. _"Look!" _And he pointed at it with his right hand.

Everyone looked over the bush and gasped out of shock and fright. In his left hand was his traveling bag, and in his right hand was the mysterious treasure chest. And the one holding it was an unconscious boy. His face, body, and torso were facing the ground; and his legs bent dangerously upward.

Alexander Halbery was lying unconscious on the ground.

_**To be continued…

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**Do you like it? If you did, read and review to tell me. No flames please, and I'll see you next time.  
_


	3. Mobius, Part III: Releasing the Power Wi

_**Disclaimer:** Sonic the Hedgehog and all other canon characters are owned by Sega and Archie Comics. Every original character used in "The Mobius Saga" belongs to me. No one is allowed to use them without my permission._

_

* * *

_**The Ultimate Adventure: The Mobius Saga  
**

**Mobius, Part III: Releasing the Power Within**

A think blanket of darkness filled the area. It was deep black, blacker than the nighttime sky. It had a tint of blue in it, but it was very faint. The thickness was incomprehensible; if someone tried to look at his own hand in front of his face, he would not be able to see it. What was more interesting was that the darkness had, thus far, lasted for some time, but it was unknown how long it had been this dark.

But the darkness was not going to last for much longer, when the darkness vanished and was replaced by sunlight. He squinted the moment the sun hit his eyes, for his eyelids have been shut for a while. He blinked several times and shook his head vigorously to better his vision.

After several seconds, he sat up and looked at the surroundings. The sky above him was baby blue and gold along the horizon, and a wind blew softly across him. In the background, several tall evergreen trees sparkled in the sunlight, their green leaves glistening brightly. On his right, the summit of Angel Mountain stood proudly in the sky, the marble body and the ice cap sunbathing.

When he looked down, he noticed that he was sitting on an old green cloth. It was long and wide, but very torn up, almost useless. The texture was thin, and old strands of yarn flapped in the waft, as if they were lighter than feathers. There were also holes in the fabric, exposing the ground underneath it. The blocks underneath looked like old stone and marble. It felt rough and cold, despite the zinc that glittered in the light.

Just as he finished looking at the surroundings, he clutched his head with his right arm and rubbed his scalp, groaning loudly.

"You okay, kid?" asked a teenaged voice.

Alexander, while rubbing his scalp, looked up from the ground and noticed three "animals" looking down on him. The one on the right was Sonic; the one on the left was Amy (in clad similar to her old ones, but neither torn nor burnt), and the one beside Amy was Tails.

Another groan escaped Alexander, but he still had enough energy for him to whisper these words, "Did anyone get that license place on that truck?"

The Mobians looked at each other and chuckled. Even though they did not know his name, they knew Alexander was going to be okay.

"How do you feel, kid?" asked Sonic to the child.

A low moan of pain escaped him. "Very sore," groaned Alexander as he continued rubbing his scalp. "From my head to the rest of the body, I'm just completely sore, but other than that, I'm fine."

"Well, thank heavens you _are_ okay," said Amy. "When we found you in the forest, you looked badly beaten up."

Alexander looked down at his arms and turned them to check for any bruises. Sure enough, they were still there. One light one was on his right wrist, and another one was on the upper-left arm. Unlike the one on the wrist, this one was newer and more "black-and-blue."

Curiosity building in his brain, he touched it with his right index finger and immediately winced. "Man, I just keep getting beat up by the minute," he muttered.

Amy blew her bangs away from the middle of her eyes (with no success) and looked at his bruise with her big green eyes. Her irises acted like detectives, looking at where it was the most sore and where it needed no treatment. After some careful inspections, she looked at him straight in the eye.

"Don't worry," she soothed. "Just some medical herbs will do away with it."

Alexander nodded at her direction, blinking once while moving his head down. "Thanks, ma'am," he said and squeezed it, ignoring the stabbing pain. "And I thought I'm gonna die from my injuries," he added with mild humor, hoping to brighten the serious mood.

The three Mobians silently chuckled as they faced each other.

"I'll go get some herbs for him," said Amy to her friends as she got to her feet.

Both Sonic and Tails nodded as Amy walked behind them and down a stairwell that was hidden from view.

When she vanished, the male Mobians faced Alexander again.

"Well, the thing is you're alright," said Tails.

"I can agree with that," said Alexander with a smile.

They stayed silent for a few more minutes as Alexander collected his thoughts. Even though he saw them for only a short amount of time, he recognized them before. As far as from what he recalled, he remembered seeing them, as well as a fourth one, battling Dr. Eggman. Albeit the hazy memory, he could detect it thoroughly.

The silence concluded when Tails spoke again.

"Oh, I almost forgot," the fox enquired and turned around. "I think these belonged to you." And he handed Alexander his bag as well as the treasure chest.

"Thanks," said Alexander as he retrieved his belongings.

"No problem," said Tails with a smile.

Alexander put his treasure chest down beside him and was about to touch the zipper of his travel bag…

_**SMACK!**_

"_OW!"_

…Until Amy's voice suddenly rang after hearing some sort of slap run across her face.

Alexander, Sonic, and Tails cringed at the sound of the crack.

"_That must've hurt,"_ thought Alexander.

And he was right, because the moment Amy went into view, he noticed her clutching a red swell that was imprinted on the left side of her jaw.

That was not all she had. She was holding a slick white cloth and mint-like herbs in her right hand. And a bucket of water dangled on the same arm.

She also carried one more thing, and that was anger: She was very cross.

"Why that no good, trash-talking—"

"Are you okay, Amy?" asked Sonic as he went to her side.

"I'll be fine," replied Amy crossly, her voice a little stuffy from the swell in her muzzle, "as soon as that _hussy_ stops harassing me!"

Alexander put the bag down and looked at the pink hedgehog confusingly. "Who?"

Amy turned to Alexander with a frustrated look on her face.

"I don't know," she replied. "She was moving too fast for me to get her full description, although I could vaguely tell that the Mobian was a female."

"I'll go talk to her either tomorrow or the day after," said Sonic.

"Mm-hmm," Amy said solemnly as she passed Sonic and sat next to Alexander.

"Allow me to see the wound on your arm, Mr.—"

"Alexander."

"Mr. Alexander," finished Amy, not taking her eye off Alex's arm.

"No, no, no," said Alexander quickly. "It's just Alexander."

Amy heard him and nodded, before changing the subject. "I like to see your arm, please."

Alexander complied and raised his left arm into the air. Amy reached behind her and grabbed the wet white cloth. The cloth was slick, and it glistened in a bright green gel.

"Um… Amy?" Alexander wondered, looking at the gel with an "I'm-going-to-be-sick" look.

Amy looked at him. "Yes, Alexander?" she asked.

"What's that lime green junk on that washcloth?"

Amy's eyes squinted awkwardly at Alexander before gazing at his bruised humerus again. "That 'junk' on the towel is tree sap."

"Sap?"

"Yes, sap," replied Amy. "See those trees around the perimeter?"

Alexander looked at the evergreen trees on his right side. "I assume the sap came from those trees over there."

"Exactly," Amy nodded. "This is medical sap. It's used to keep wounds clean and closed."

"_Medical sap, huh?"_ thought Alexander with interest. He then jokingly added with a low mutter, "I have a feeling they don't use it on pancakes."

Amy looked up at him. "What was that, Alexander?" she ordered.

"Never mind."

Amy huffed and began to treat Alexander's wound. First, she grabbed the two leaves and placed them across his bruise. She, then, took the gel-covered washcloth and wrapped it around his upper arm, pressing the crease firmly on the towel the moment after the arm was bandaged. Once the cloth was completely compressed on his arm, she took off her right glove and looked behind her, where the bucket of water was sitting. Amy dipped her finger in the water and smeared it on the towel's crease.

"That oughta do it," Amy said as she put her glove back on. She raised her head towards Alexander. "The sap and the herbs will make the pain in your arm subside. Keep it on for a week, and it'll be healed."

"Got it," Alexander said and got to his feet, groaning from the stiffness in his hips and leg muscles.

"I think you should go for a walk," decided Sonic. "That way, you can get the blood in your legs."

Alexander hummed aloud and nodded. "I can't argue with that," he said and grabbed his supplies.

Just as he was about to climb down the stairwell, he looked at the three Mobians. "Say, you know something…"

The Mobians gave Alexander a questioning look.

"…I don't think we introduced ourselves, yet."

The Mobians looked at each other, then turned back to Alexander again.

"Sorry, we forgot," said Sonic. "I'm sure you know me already; I'm Sonic, and my friends behind me are Tails and Amy." He pointed at the golden fox and pink hedgehog respectively.

"I'm Alexander," the human said to them. "Pleased to meet you."

"Pleased to meet you, too," said Tails.

Alexander smiled and waved at them as he walked down. "I'll be back before sundown!" he called and disappeared from view.

* * *

The moment Alexander stepped foot onto the ground, he trudged across a dirt path and crossed over a little bridge that hovered over a small river. The bridge was made out of stone and clay, and it contained minerals of zinc and quartz. The floor of the bridge was a little rough. Loose stones scattered all over, and some of the structure on the top edges of the bridge eroded, making it look very old and very ancient. 

Alexander stopped halfway across the bridge, accidentally kicking a loose piece of rubble in the process. Wondering what the scene behind him was like, he looked behind and stared at the holy place with awe. It looked like a shrine, a holy and religious shrine. It was tall and circular, and there were two landings. The top landing was completely made out of stone and marble, and it looked very round and very old. Old stones grayed and the blocks were cracked. Some of the creases were cemented together to keep the top of the altar from collapsing. The second ring was wider and bigger. It was made out of the same block of stones created for the first landing, only except they were bigger and rougher.

Connecting both of them was a stairwell. The steps were very flat and very smooth. It looked like someone had used sandpaper on them. They were made out of stone and marble, the same material that seemed to be used to construct the altar. Then, before the stairs reached the ground, a platform stood in its place. It was also made out of stone, but it had a brownish tint in it. About three yards from the main stairwell was a small staircase, but there are only had three steps in that one.

The altar's design was unique. On the top of the temple, six columns circled around the edge. They were very weathered; the tops of the columns were pointy and ragged, making it look like they were parts of a ruin. Around the base of the shrine was a stone ring. Many of the columns were chopped and ragged, looking very old and weathered. Some of them were so worn down, they were down to their last stone. Outside of that ring was another one, but it was bare and housed no columns whatsoever.

After he finished observing the architecture, Alexander walked over to his left and leaned his right arm on the edge of the bridge. He looked down and gazed at the calm blue water below. He could see his reflection. His face, his neck, even his bandaged arm, he could detect all the details about him, something that the waters from where he came from did not have.

A sigh escaped him as he looked down at his reflection. Then, without really thinking, he reached his right hand over the edge and dangled it. It was as if he was trying to touch it.

In fact, he _was_ trying to touch it. Whatever the reason was, he felt like he had to do it. Like there was some kind of unknown force telling him to reach down beneath him and touch it.

And then… he did. His index finger grazed the water, and he twirled it in small circles. Small ripples resulted from the twirling, making his reflection scatter.

"Huh?"

But suddenly, he felt some sort of vibration coming from the left-hand side, like some shockwave hitting him. The thing was that it was not very violent; it felt… serene, like music reverberating off a string of a harp. It was soft, but it was enough to catch his attention. He slowly took his hand out from the water and looked at the altar again.

**"****What are you doing?"**

But a male voice knocked Alexander out of that trance. Blinking rapidly, and with a glum expression on his face, he looked away from the altar and toward the edge of the bridge. Standing there, balancing the pointy tip, was the cyan Chaos Emerald, its aura glowing both quixotically and loosely.

"It's about time to see you out of my bag," said Alexander to the gem.

**"****Well,"** began the cyan Chaos Emerald, **"I was worried for you, but I was also worried that Eggman was still around."**

**"****Sometimes, your way of thinking lacks common sense,"** huffed the red Chaos Emerald as she landed beside her cyan companion. **"Couldn't you have used some sort of power to know that Eggman was nowhere to be seen?"**

The cyan gem's glow froze, as if it started to pale. **"I didn't think about that,"** he said meekly.

_**PLOP!**_

"Alright, alright. Quit arguing there," interrupted Alexander as he placed his bag _between_ them.

Both gems did not stay separated for long as they hovered to Alexander's eye-level.

"From what I've seen, you two just argue, argue, and argue. Heavens, you two act like you're married to each other."

Both gems "looked" at each other before turning to Alexander again. **"What's 'marriage'?" **they wondered confusingly.

Alexander sighed and collapsed his head onto the edge of the bridge. _"Great, Alexander. What a good thing to say to them,"_ he thought sarcastically. "Never mind about that," he said aloud and raised his head off the stoned edge, dismissing the old topic and going to a new one. "So, how was your stay inside my bag?" he asked them, his mind thinking mischievously.

The cyan gem growled. **"You don't want to know,"** he said, his voice full of detestation.

"What do you mean?" asked Alexander as he put the treasure chest inside his bag, then zipping it up securely.

**"****He's saying that he hated being crammed inside a hot, stuffed-up bag for two whole days!"** exclaimed the red Chaos Emerald.

Alexander's eyes widened. "Two days, you said?"

**"****That's right, Alex," **answered the red gem, returning to her usual calm self. Then, after "seeing" Alexander's face become very pale, she asked him, **"What's wrong? You look sick."**

"_Darn right about that,"_ thought Alexander to himself before saying to her, "I was out for two days?"

The cyan gem floated in front of Alexander and said to him, **"I'm not sure, but from how long we've been stuck in there, I have to say that, yes, you have."**

Alexander fell silent, but his reaction proved otherwise, for he looked green in the face.

**"****What's the matter, Alex?"** the red gem repeated worryingly. **"You look sick."**

Alexander wheezed and looked at the red Chaos Emerald with a cross expression. "Well, what do you think I was doing, acting it all out?" he retorted frustratingly, but he seemed to calm down after the color in his skin returned. "Sorry about that. I'm just under a little bit of stress right now."

**"****It's alright, Alexander," **soothed the red Chaos Emerald and landed on the rim of the bridge, balancing her pointy tip on the stone. **"If I were you, I'd probably react the same way."**

**"****No kidding," **teased the cyan Chaos Emerald, who was floating alongside Alexander's right.

The red Emerald "looked" at he cyan companion and flared her red aura a little brighter than usual, as if she was giving him a glare.

It did no effect, however, as the cyan Chaos Emerald landed beside her, stifling a snicker. Alexander held back a chuckle, too.

"_It looks like I was right,"_ thought Alexander. _"They _do _fight like a married couple. The only drawback from this was that they're not real things… even though they cooperate like one,"_ he added teasingly.

Both gems seemed to have read his thoughts when they "looked" at him dumbly… again.

**"****Married couple? What's that?"** they asked.

Alexander collapsed his head onto the edge of the bridge… again. _"Nice going, you idiot!"_ he thought to himself.

"Never mind that," said Alexander to the Chaos Emeralds after raising his head off the edge… again. "So…" he said, trying to think of something to converse, when he side-glance at the shrine behind him, "…that temple that I woke up in was the shelter you two were talking about?" He finished his stilted question by pointing at the shrine blindly with his left hand.

Both Chaos Emeralds cast a glance at the shrine before facing the human again.

**"****If you're mentioning the Hidden Palace over there,"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald, referencing the altar as the "Hidden Palace," **"then, yes, it is. Why'd you ask?"**

Alexander shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know. Just want to talk about something." He exhaled longingly. "I'm bored. What can I do while I'm here?"

**"****You can explore the forest if you like,"** suggested the red Chaos Emerald.

"Hmm, perhaps," replied Alexander, but when he looked at the forest, he became doubtful, "but I don't wanna get lost. Besides, I promised that I get back to the shrine by nightfall."

**"****I see,"** pondered the red gem. Then, she turned to her cyan companion. **"How 'bout you?"**

**"****I'm not quite sure myself,"** the cyan Emerald replied, also in a thinking motion.

Their considerations would have to wait for a few moments…

_**WHOOSH!**_

…When a gust of wind suddenly brushed by them, narrowly missing Alexander by a couple of inches.

The Chaos Emeralds floated from the ground and hovered about six feet in the air. Alexander backed away from the edge of the bridge the moment he heard the wind.

"What was that?" gasped Alexander.

**"****I would call that a gust of wind, Alexander,"** replied the cyan Chaos Emerald.

**"****Lay off the sarcasm,"** scolded the red gemstone, **"but I have a sneaky suspicion the wind wasn't natural."**

"I'll have to agree with you on that one," agreed Alexander.

He was correct once again, when a quick burst of wind quickly zoomed by a surprised Alexander, narrowly missing his nose.

"Wah!" he yelled out and fell, back first, onto the ground.

**"****You're okay, Alexander?"** asked the Chaos Emeralds simultaneously as they "glanced" down on his him.

"I'm fine," replied Alexander and got back up. "I'm been through worse."

"Oh, you have?"

All three spectators gasped at the eerie female voice that unexpectedly popped into the atmosphere.

"Okay, _now,_ I'm getting scared," said Alexander, panic creeping up inside him.

**"****Same here,"** agreed both Chaos Emeralds.

"Good," interrupted the bone-chilling voice again, making everyone gasp again. "That's exactly what I want."

"_Well, now, you have it,"_ thought Alexander and looked from side to side. Surprisingly, no one was in sight.

"That's weird," wondered the human after looking around. "I could've sworn someone was here."

"Correction," boomed the female voice again. Then, coming from Alexander's right-hand side, her voice thundered crossly, "I _am _here."

Alexander gasped in surprise. "Wha…?" But the moment he looked to his right, his said no more.

* * *

Mushroom Hill: a very quiet and peaceful place. Tall orange grass swayed in the wind. The dirt was wet and glossy, making it look like a swamp. Small ponds reflected the sky, showing off swirls of red, orange, and light violet. 

However, the main spectacle to Mushroom Hill was… the mushrooms. Many of them ranged from six to fifteen feet, but some of the more healthy sprouts were higher than most sequoias. The stalks were golden, and they shined in the light. Many of the stalks were skinny, but some of them that were larger than most cars. The caps of the mushrooms varied in color. Most of them were red with yellow polka dots on them, while some of them were actually yellow with red polka dots on them.

Throughout the day, it was very tranquil. No noise echoed throughout the area, not even a buzz from an annoying insect.

But that was soon going to change, when a faint scream reverberated around the forest. It was barely audible, but it suddenly got louder, and louder, and louder. Then, it became so loud, it could be heard from two miles away.

It was like the panicked scream would last forever, but for some reason, it stopped…

_**SPLASH!**_

…Because the person who screamed crashed into a body of water nearby.

Just a few feet away from Mushroom Hill resided a calm stream. The water was crystal blue and very still. On one side lied the same red-and-yellow capped mushroom forest, but the other side was a little different. The stalks were golden, but they had a brownish tone in them, and they were not very sparkly. The caps were also varied in blue. Some caps were dark blue with bright blue polka dots on them, while the other caps were bright blue with the polka dots being dark blue.

In the middle of the stream, ripples were spreading out at a vigorous pace, and small air bubbles popped from the ripple's epicenter. Whoever that caused those air bubbles remained underwater for a couple of moments, when he suddenly sat up. The human had blond hair, a black t-shirt, and bandages on his upper-left arm and right hand.

Alexander spat the water out of his mouth and moved his air away from his turquoise eyes. His right cheek was bright red, and his eyebrows furrowed dangerously.

"Wait until I get my hands on her," he growled, venom dripping from his enraged snarl. "Wait till I strangle that fat, ugly son of a—"

_**BONK!**_

"_AHH!"_ Alexander cried out as his face and upper-body, once again, plunged into the water, courtesy of his travel bag crashing onto his head!

Groaning loudly, Alexander sat up again, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. He then looked down on his right and noticed the strap of his travel bag. Grumbling crossly, Alexander picked up his bag and hoisted it over his right shoulder. But just as he did so, the cyan and red Chaos Emeralds crashed into the embankment where the red and yellow-capped mushrooms resided.

"Oh, great," he muttered and dug the gems out from the mud.

**"****Are you all right, Alexander?"** asked the red Chaos Emerald, her red glow radiating brightly.

"I'm okay," answered Alexander, even though his head was throbbing rapidly. "That bag's gonna need to become lighter, though," he added as he looked over his shoulder.

**"****Nevertheless, you're alive and breathing,"** cut in the cyan Chaos Emerald.** "Now, let's get outta here."**

"Good idea," said Alexander, and he trotted into the yellow-and-red capped mushroom forest.

They all remained silent until Alexander reached the wide-open space of Mushroom Hill. When he looked around, he noticed that everywhere he looked, an array of mushrooms filled the flat stretch of land. Some were short; some were tall; and a couple of them completely towered above him.

But when he looked ahead of him, what he saw was a plateau. Instead of mushrooms, the ground was mostly covered by one-foot orange grass, with areas of emerald green sprouting around the area. It swayed and danced in the wind, like it was in a very happy mood. Only a few of the mushrooms sprouted upon the hill: Many of them were still young and were waiting for their time to shine.

The sky remained unchanged: A bright gold spread across the horizon, followed by shades of red, blue, and purple above the golden horizon.

Alexander looked at the place in awe, watching the beautiful scenery ahead of him.

The red Chaos Emerald could not help, but agree with him. **"Mushroom Hill's a very beautiful place, isn't it?"**

"It definitely is," sighed Alexander. He then walked backwards and leaned on one of the mushrooms.

**"****Um… Alexander…"** enquired the cyan Chaos Emerald as he floated in front of Alexander's face, **"I think you should go back to the Hidden Palace. The others might be… worried… about… you…"** But he was cut off when Alexander lifted himself off the trunk and began walking down the hill. **"Hey! Wait for me!"** And he floated after Alexander and the red Chaos Emerald.

Alexander walked down a slope and stopped once he reached the bottom, When he observed his surroundings once more, he realized that unlike the forest far in the background, there were only a few mushrooms along the plateau. Many of them were about four to eight feet tall, but they were more spaced out instead of being cluttered and crowded.

After scanning the mushrooms, Alexander walked past them and up a steady grassy hill. Neither foliage nor flora resided there, and the mushrooms at the bottom of the hill were now becoming nothing more than lines in the background.

After reaching the top, he looked at the mushrooms in the background and sighed at the scenery, allowing the sunlight to hit behind him. "Very nice view here, isn't it?" he told himself.

"**It definitely is,"** replied the red Chaos Emerald as she hovered next to the Halbery child.

The cyan Chaos Emerald, after catching up with the duo, responded with this. **"Alexander, we shouldn't be here now. We have to get back to the Hidden Palace soon."**

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," said Alexander dismissively, ignoring the warning. "But I cannot help but like this place." But when he turned around, he gasped in awe. Standing about 145 yards away from him was a family of mushrooms. The group contained ten mushrooms; all of the caps were yellow and were stained with red polka dots. The stalks were shiny and golden, just like most of the other mushrooms along the hill.

The four short ones were only seventeen feet high, and the stalks were about seven feet in diameter. The caps were about 21 feet in diameter, and they were spread out to where they made an imaginary square, about seventy yards from one small mushroom to the other. The next four mushrooms were about 45 feet high, and the stalks were about 27 feet in diameter. Each cap was about 50 feet in diameter, and they stood between the other four mushrooms. Finally, the last two mushrooms stood side by side in the center of the pack. They were each about 71 feet tall, towering the other eight mushrooms below them. Both stalks were each about 40 feet in diameter, and they were shining in the remaining sunlight. The mushrooms' caps were each about 111 feet in diameter, and they both swayed gently in the wind, as if they were dancing quixotically.

"Wow," Alexander gasped as he gawked at them. "Aren't they beautiful?"

**"****Yes, they are beautiful,"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald, a tone that hinted that he had no interest of staying. **"I think we were supposed to be heading back to Hidden Palace soon."**

"Like I said before, I know," said Alexander, not taking his eyes off the group of towering mushrooms. "But the scene here is just breathtaking."

The red Chaos emerald certainly agreed. **"Me, too,"** she said softly as she hovered next to Alexander.

**"****I know it is!" **said the cyan gemstone impatiently, **"but the subject at hand is to…"**

_**SNAP!**_

Alexander and the Chaos Emeralds gasped at the sound of the snapping twig echoing throughout the area, and they turned to the hill behind them – where the sound came from.

**"****I think I know who's coming, Alexander,"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald.

And he was right; when Alexander looked down, he noticed at a blue blur racing from the mushroom forest and right towards him.

If the blur was not evident enough, the calls of "Alexander, where are you?" echoed throughout the valley.

"Sonic's coming," Alexander told the Chaos Emeralds.

**"****Uh-oh,"** both gems quipped, and without another word, they dropped themselves to the orange and green grass below.

Alexander looked at the Emeralds and their antics. _"Huh. That was weird,"_ he thought and picked them up. _"I wonder why they did that?"_

"Yo, Alexander!" called the teenaged male voice.

The Halbery child looked up and saw Sonic the Hedgehog standing before him, his arms crossed, and his right foot tapping impatiently on the soft grass.

"Where were you? We were looking all over for you," said Sonic severely.

"Sorry, Sonic," said Alexander to him. "It just that someone sped up behind me and punched me so hard, she sent me flying to this place."

"I see," said Sonic a little more leniently and put his right hand on his chin. _"So now, this woman has attacked someone else. I'm going to have investigate the situation soon."_

"Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the teenager once more. "Sorry, Alexander. I was just thinking about something."

"Thinking about what?" asked Alexander.

"I'll tell you about that later," replied Sonic. "But right now, we have to get back to the Hidden Palace."

"How?" queried Alexander.

"With one of the Chaos Emeralds you have there," answered Sonic and pointed at the cyan Chaos Emerald in Alexander's left hand.

"This…?" Alexander brought the Emerald to eye level.

"Exactly, but I'll have to borrow it, if you don't mind."

Alexander looked down and handed him the Chaos Emerald. "Mm-mm, I don't," he replied.

Sonic smiled and grabbed the gemstone with his left hand. "Thanks," he complimented. "Now, grab onto my free hand here and close your eyes."

Alexander grabbed Sonic's right hand and closed his eyes without speaking.

Exhaling loudly, Sonic raised the cyan Chaos Emerald high into the air. "CHAOS CONTROL!"

Once the command was handed out, Alexander and Sonic were both trapped into a ball of cyan light. It swirled around them like a planet revolving around the sun. It felt very tingly, but also very warm. Unlike the muggy summer environment, it was neither humid nor was it sticky. It was like being in front of a nice, cozy fireplace, the limbs, and head, of a person's body feeling the heat coming from it. It felt like it would last forever, when it suddenly consumed them, and an endless path of cyan blue light surrounded them.

Alexander opened his eyes and looked around. _"Wow,"_ he thought. _"What a nice place."_ His eyes, then, felt like closing due to the radiation of his surrounding. _"A very bright place, to be exact."_ He sighed softly. _"It makes me wish I had some sunglasses."_

"Alexander," said Sonic softly, looking way from him. The moment Alexander faced him, Sonic replied with the following quote, "Keep your eyes closed; we don't to end up in the wrong place."

"_End up in the wrong place?"_ wondered Alexander, his face showing confusion, but he decided to let it slide for the time being, and he shut his eyes again.

Alexander kept them shut for about one minute, when Sonic chirped to him, "You can open you eyes now."

Alexander cooperated and opened his eyes. He immediately squinted when the sunlight hit his eyes, but he slowly opened them a little bit more whenever the eyesight adjust to his sunlight when he was able to see clearly again, he realized that he was back on the bridge towards the Hidden Palace.

He gasped at this. What was the phenomenon that he just encountered… and how did he get back to the spot where he some walloped by some tail-whacking, temperamental old woman?

Alex wanted to ask him both questions right away, but he chose the one that came first into mind. "How did we get back here, Sonic?" he asked with wonderment to the blue hedgehog, who was facing away from him.

Sonic handed him back the Chaos Emerald, not taking his eyes off the shrine. "I used Chaos Control."

Alexander's right eyebrow disappeared into his hair. "Chaos what?" he wondered.

"Chaos Control," Sonic repeated as they started walking off the bridge and back to the altar. "It's a form of transportation by using one of the seven Chaos Emeralds."

"I see," said Alexander and looked at the cyan Chaos Emerald in his right hand and the red one in the other. "So, you can use any of the seven Emeralds to contribute Chaos Control?"

"That's right," replied Sonic. "And Chaos Control, if done right, can also stop time."

Alexander looked up from the gemstones and at Sonic, who was not facing him. "Wow," he whispered.

Sonic turned around and formed a small smile. "I know," he said simply and was about to walk ahead when Alexander stopped him.

"Sonic," the child said.

Sonic stopped walking and turned to Alexander with a calm smile on his face. "What is it?"

"During our brief teleportation, I got confused about something."

"What about it?" asked Sonic.

"How were you able to find me in Mushroom Hill?"

Sonic put his left hand under his chin. "When I saw flying in the air and disappearing behind the treetops, I saw that you were heading towards Mushroom Hill, so I decided to make sure that you there."

For some reason, Alexander broke a chuckle. "It seems that you've been thrown into the air quite a lot," he hypothesized.

"You don't want to know," laughed Sonic and walked ahead towards the altar.

As he raced ahead, Alexander decided to lag behind, thinking about a few things.

"_I think that, from now on, whenever I travel to a different place, I'll be more careful and tell the others where I might go,"_ thought Alexander. He considered his thoughts to being illogical to an extent, as well as an oxymoron. _"Of course, I'm never actually that careful, and it's more than likely that I'll have to face that Mobian again. At least, I _think _it's a Mobian."_

That was he heard something silently move in the creek. _"Speaking of the Mobian…"_ he added in thought.

Wanting to see what the Mobian who slugged him looked like, he tuned his ahead around and looked at the left side off the gully. What he saw were two small eyes that looked like ovals. The irises were dark yellow, and her long black eyebrows furrowed crossly. Between the eyes were four dark red bangs than drooped down, the tips already into the water. On the top of her head were two long dark red antennae, and her hair was thin and scattered. It swayed over her eyes, on the sides, and on the back of her head.

After a few tense moments, the female Mobian huffed and sank into the water, the ripples scattering and lightly hitting the shore.

Alexander remained expressionless and followed Sonic back to the shrine, deciding to _forgo_ the other question he wanted to ask him.

* * *

Dr. Eggman's hideout was very dark and dim, the lime green light from the ceiling only a mere glow in the room. Eggman sat in his computer chair, his small head and big mustache slouching on the desk. A low grumble rumbled from his gritted mouth, feeling both agitated and very cross. 

He raised his body up to where he was sitting upright. "Ugh! Sometimes, I cannot understand why I can't defeat that Sonic!" growled Eggman and slammed the side of his fists onto the desk. "I had the most calculated plan in store, and it failed…" Another angry growl erupted, causing some saliva to drip onto the floor, "…thanks to Tails and his _power rings!"_ And he screamed loudly and frustratingly.

"_Careful, Dr. Eggman,"_ said a female-voiced robot from the background. _"You don't to suffer an anxiety attack from your antics, right?"_

Eggman jerked his head to his right. "And I suppose you have suffered one, right?" he grumbled with minute sarcasm. He sighed angrily and stared at the screen.

"_But what about the Chaos Emeralds?"_ asked the same female-speaking robot.

Eggman's head twitched slightly. "Good question," he pondered. "I actually never thought of that." He collapsed his head onto his left hand as he began to think. _"Apparently, Sonic and the others were right; they didn't know about the Chaos Emeralds…"_ His frown changed into a sinister smile. _"…But this anomaly does."_

The evil scientist used his right hand and pressed a huge red button that sat in the front of the desk. "Decoe! Bocoe! I need my cards right away!" He released the button before the response came.

He did not really need one, because the big doors behind him opened again, and walking towards Eggman were two robots. One was yellow; the other was gray.

Decoe, the three-foot-nine-inch yellow robot, had a long steel cap that looked like the front of a mini-missile. A smaller cylinder made of yellow steel represented his mouth. The black part of his face had small white eyes and black irises, plus one yellow bolt on each side of the face, representing his ears.

His neck was small and slender. The shoulder blades were long and pointy, sticking out and looking like triangles. The chest was yellow and very slim, and it has a black window with an upside-down "T" on it.

His waist was also yellow, with bolts around the area of the stomach. The only area of the upper-body that did not have metal was the area of where the naval should be; it was brown and elastic, allowing him to freely move his upper-body in all directions… the directions he wished to choose, that is.

His legs were quite long, about the size of his body and head combined. They were brown, with yellow spheres representing his knees. The feet were made of yellow steel, and it had a joint in the middle, representing his ankles. His arms were about as long as his legs; they were brown with a yellow knob as his elbows. His yellow hands were long, and his fingers were pointy.

Bocoe, the two-foot-ten-inch gray robot, was shorter and fatter than his "twin brother," as what Eggman once described them the moment they were created. The gray dome looked more like a half-circle, and his mouth could be compared to the bottom half of a steel-gray hamburger bun. The black part of his face had gray mechanisms on each side of his face, representing his ears. His eyes were round, and they contained black irises.

His abdomen and waist looked very plump, and there was no brown elastic stomach on it, unlike his brother, Decoe. It was made entirely of solid gray steel, and the black window in front had the shape of a "U."

The legs looked like gray opaque tubes. They were about as long as his long as his upper-body, and his steel gray feet were plump and fat. His arms had the same look as the legs, with one gray tube for each arm. His shoulder blades were round, and his hands and fingers were short and stubby.

With Bocoe lagging behind, Decoe sped up to Eggman with a blue plate in his hands. On top of the plate were cards that had the designs of robots on one side and a violet blank on the other.

"Thanks," said Eggman and snatched the playing cards from the plate with his right hand. "Now, let's see…" He flicked them apart to where the cards looked like a shape of a fan. He looked at all the robots he could decide, but after a hand on the chin, and the phrase that he found to be _very_ addictive, "I can't choose," he opened a slot next to the big red button and placed the deck of cards inside. After closing the lid, he grabbed the lever with his right hand and pulled it down. Replacing the map was a huge screen that looked like a slot machine. There were three white sections, and they would show the final selection as to which robot Eggman would choose.

The machine's decision was a very quick one, for he found a match on his first turn. The robot's purple head looked like a half-sphere, and there was a white eye in the middle. The top of the head was a stubby black violet antenna that had a white ball on the tip.

The body was very tall and rectangular. It was violet, and it had four white slots on each side of his chest and back. In the middle of his chest was a red circle, protected by a black accent. The shoulder blades were violet, and they were round on top, flat along the sides. The arms were not segmented, and they did not contain an elbow. Representing each hand were five skinny gun barrels.

The waist was also violet, and it was separated from the upper-body by a white elastic stomach. The robot has no legs; it had two stubby feet. The feet looked like satellite dishes, with a flat bottom and a skinny top (representing the ankles).

When talking about the height, the robot was about ten feet high, seven and a half feet long, and six feet wide.

Eggman's smile widened from ear to ear. "Ahh, the Egg-Drill," he cheered and clasped his hands. He quickly turned to Decoe and Bocoe. "I want him ready before sunrise tomorrow!"

"_Aye-aye, sir!"_ obliged the two robots and scampered though the door and disappeared into the dark hallway.

Eggman returned his gaze to the screen, smiling admirably at the look of the violet robot. _"Although this robot is strong and endurable, this robot will likely not kill Sonic,"_ he thought seriously. He touched his moustache for a moment before putting his hand down again. _"Still, I want to retrieve any Chaos Emeralds that this mysterious being has."_ He created a fist with his right hand, but his evil smile did not disappear. _"And I want them fast."_

Afterwards, he looked down toward the capsule that he placed the cards in and put his right hand under his chin. _"Nonetheless, this will be a fine robot to hold back Sonic and the others long enough so it could steal the Chaos Emeralds from them, and it's more than likely that this anomaly will be by their side."_

It looked like Eggman was about to laugh evilly, but he stopped short and his smile turned into a frown as more thoughts came into his head. _"However, I have doubts that Egg-Drill can do the job alone. With his tendency to waddle and not escape any more powerful attacks in time, I believe that Sonic and the others will distract it long enough for the anomaly to escape the area."_ He hummed subconsciously._ "I'm afraid that it's gong to need some backup."_

That was when he had an idea as he stopped touching his chin and put his right hand on the lever again. _"And I have just the creations for it,"_ he thought with an evil chuckle as he pulled the lever once again.

* * *

Nighttime at Hidden Palace could not have been any better than what it was right now. The stars slightly brightened the sky, giving it a dark blue tint, and the white moon slowly orbited Mobius, its aura glowing brightly. 

On the ground, the cap of Angel Mountain glowed brightly, the aura from the moon reflecting it along the side. The leaves of the trees were highlighted from the glow, giving the leaves a teal-like color. The stones of the shrine were also given a little bit of a tint, as well, thanks to the moon's illumination; that and another substance that caused it. It was emerald green, and it shone brightly from the center of the shrine.

As for Alexander, he was lying on the stone on the top of the altar. His eyes were open, and he was staring at the moon above him. A couple of fast blinks occurred as he was concentrating on something. He knew where it was and what was there. He could see the superiority from them, from the height to the faint orange glow from afar.

He was dying to go there again, he was beginning to miss that place, even though he was only there for a half-hour. It just seemed very comfortable to him, like it was his own private haven. He tried to fight these thoughts off by closing his eyes and going to sleep, but he was restless; his eyes refused to shut. His mind was also refusing to shut down. The conscience from within was coaxing him to return there, and he knew it.

And it kept persuading him to where it became more of a nag rather than persistence.

"_Stupid brain,"_ thought Alexander and rubbed his temple with his right hand. _"You're givin' me a blistering headache!"_

Unfortunately for him, his brain had no intention of "shutting up," and it kept on nagging him, giving him echoes of _"Go back! Go back!"_

Despite trying to lock it in the background, the constant nagging within his brain was working, as he believed that it was worth going back there. But should he go back tonight or tomorrow morning? He was not sure when to go, but when he sat up to stretch the small of his back, his decision became firm. This time, there was no turning back… He was not going to turn back the clock, and he would make sure it stayed that way.

He got to his feet and grabbed his bag. As he reached the stairwell, he looked behind him and saw Knuckles sleeping on the grass. He then looked down and noticed Sonic, Tails, and Amy in separate sleeping bags on the grass. Smiling, he walked down the stairwell and exited the shrine. He kept trekking until he stepped foot on the bridge to where he encountered the tail-whipping female. He walked to the left and looked down at the dim-lit river, but there was no sign of her. However, when he looked on the other side, he noticed her antennae sticking out and air bubbles rising to the surface, but her eyes were shut: She was sleeping underwater.

"Good," smiled Alexander and walked across the bridge and disappeared into the forest. The forest was very dark and very creepy. The trees blended in the dark background, except for a few highlighted limbs from the moon. The path that split the forest had a brownish tint in it, but it was very faint. As he turned left, the light from the moon was disappearing very quickly, thus making it hard to see.

Still, Alexander felt excited, especially since he was going to return tonight. After traveling far enough to ensure himself that no one would see him, he grabbed the bag and pulled the zipper. "You can come out now."

Both Chaos Emeralds immediately zoomed out of the bag and hovered next to Alexander, their auras brightening the surroundings considerably.

**"****What are you up to now, Alexander?"** asked the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"What else?" said Alexander. "I plan on going back to Mushroom Hill tonight." He then lightly punched his forehead with his right hand as he irritably added in thought, _"Because my brain won't stop telling me."_

Like the battle two days ago, neither gem seemed to hear his thoughts. This time, it was either that or that they considered what Alexander thought as irrelevant to the situation at hand.

**"****Tonight?"** spluttered the cyan Emerald.

"That's right," said Alexander.

**"****But what about the others?"** quipped the cyan Emerald. **"They'll be scared to death."**

"I know," said Alexander, "but I'm starting to feel a bit… stuck inside. Besides…" he closed his bag, "…I'm starting to miss Mushroom Hill; the environment's just too comforting."

**"****But couldn't you do it tomorrow, then?"** asked the male-speaking Chaos Emerald.

Alexander sighed. "I had that thought, actually, but the more I was considering this, the more I wanted to go."

**"****Then, we'll take you,"** said the red Chaos Emerald before her cyan comrade could respond.

**"****WHAT!"**

**"****_Shh!"_** hissed the red Chaos Emerald, flaring her aura a little bit. **_"You'll wake them up!"_**

**"****Good, I want them to wake up. Because I'm worried for Alexander's safety. You don't want him to get lost or get killed, right?"**

The red Chaos Emerald's glow flared a little brighter, as if she was shocked by his short speech. **"Wow. I didn't know you cared."**

**"****Hey, I should. Otherwise, what would happen to the deal between Alexander and I?"**

At the mention of the deal, the red Chaos Emerald sighed incredulously and dropped herself to the ground. **"Oh, vey,"** she muttered, feeling extremely vexed.

"_Ditto,"_ thought Alexander while shaking his head. Any mentioning, any _hints,_ of the deal between the cyan gem and Alexander himself was becoming extremely annoying. They were wishing that it would just take a back seat for all eternity.

Then, he realized something and slapped his head for almost forgetting it. "Shoot! I forgot to write a note, saying that I'll be at Mushroom Hill."

**"****I can help you with that,"** said the red Chaos Emerald and floated on top of Alexander's left shoulder. **"But first, do you have any paper so you can write on it?"**

Alexander nodded and dug out four small, squared pieces of rough parchment from his right pocket. "Found them cluttered on my foot while walking back," he explained. "Now, I need something to write on it, like tree sap or something."

**"****Nothing to it,"** said the red Chaos Emerald and hovered over the parchment. She remained in that position for a few seconds when she hovered away again. On each note was this phrase: _"I'm at Mushroom Hill right now. Expect me to be back soon. Alexander."_

Alexander examined them to make sure they had the right message on each of them. "Good work," he smiled. "Now, they have to be in a place where they can find it."

The red gemstone immediately did just that as she let her aura snatch onto the notes before zooming off back to Hidden Palace, her red glow becoming extremely dim in the distance.

As she disappeared around the bend, Alexander and the cyan Chaos Emerald faced each other.

**"****Feeling excited, huh?"** asked the gemstone.

Alexander clasped his hands and rubbed them together. "Got that right," he said with an eager tone.

**"****Why's that?"** the gem asked curiously.

Alexander sighed. "Other than my head pushing me to go, I'm not quite sure, as a matter in fact," he admitted half-easily.

**"****You know any possible reasons why, then?"** the cyan gem queried as he perched himself onto Alexander's right shoulder.

Alexander put his right hand on his chin. "Good question," he pondered. "Maybe it's because it's a pretty comforting environment and that it's peaceful."

The Chaos Emerald tilted forwards, as if he was thinking, too. **"You seem to like nature a lot."**

"Yeah, I do," said Alexander with a small smile, but it quickly faded. "But a new reason came to me, also."

The cyan Chaos Emerald became curious at Alexander's abrupt announcement. **"What reason is that?"**

"I prefer it to keep it private for now," replied Alexander, feeling a little uneasy. "At least until we arrive at Mushroom Hill."

The cyan Chaos Emerald left it at that.

On the other hand, Alexander had other things in mind, particularly the Chaos Emerald's sudden interest in the forest. From how he had acted, he was more interested in the vow both of them made. Or, at least, the vow _the gemstone_ made, since he literally _forced_ Alexander into this predicament.

Before he can ask the Emerald, however, the red Chaos Emerald arrived, forcing his thoughts to be put on hold for the time being.

**"****It's done; I've put them in their hands,"** she said as she floated in front of him and the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"Good work," said Alexander. "Now, I think we use Chaos Control to go to the forest."

**"****Right on that," **answered the red Emerald.

"Good," said Alexander with a small smile, but it quickly faded. "But how do I use you guys to teleport there?"

**"****Simple,"** said the red gem and floated into Alexander's right hand. **"You use me. I'll tell you all the instructions that you need, okay?"**

Alexander nodded.

**"****First, close your eyes,"** said the red Chaos Emerald.

Alexander complied and closed his eyes.

**"****Second, picture the place you want to land on, and make sure that the picture is as accurate as you can. You have no idea how much trouble we have had whenever someone landed in a bad place."**

Alexander tried to do what he was told and allowed himself some time to picture the place he wanted to go to. He kept quiet for about one minute when he said to her, "Got it."

**"****Next, raise the hand that's holding me high into the air,"** continued the red gemstone.

Alexander, with his eyes closed, raised his hand high into the air.

**"****Now, say the command, 'Chaos Control'!"** she shrilled.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" Alexander shouted.

Once the command was issued, he felt like he was surrounded by a ball of fire. It felt tingly, but very warm, too. The fingertips that held the red Chaos Emerald were becoming very warm and numb. It felt like it would last forever, when it suddenly vanished.

**"****You can open your eyes, now!"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald.

Realizing that Chaos Control was completed, Alexander complied and opened his eyes. But as he opened them, he realized that they felt a little heavier than usual. Perhaps, the Chaos Control he triggered made him temporarily weak, he thought. However, when he moved his hands, he felt something odd. It felt like… grass.

In fact, it was grass. He was lying on grass-covered ground. The leaves were about ten inches tall, but they were thin, and they did not feel like feathers in a pillow, either.

Groaning from the lack of energy, he slowly got to his feet and noticed the red and cyan Chaos Emeralds hovering around Alexander, as if they stopped orbiting.

**"****You look dazed, Alexander,"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"Greatly," groaned Alexander and collapsed onto one knee.

**"****This is the first time you triggered Chaos Control, and this is normal for first-timers," **explained the red Chaos Emerald and sunk to Alexander's eye-level. **"The next time you trigger it, you're not going to feel very exhausted."**

**"****But don't overuse Chaos Control, Alexander,"** advised the cyan Chaos Emerald. **"Only use it whenever necessary."**

"Thanks for telling me," sighed Alexander, and his body subsequently regained energy.

Once he got to his feet, he looked around and realized that he was on the bottom of the plateau of Mushroom Hill. Unlike Hidden Palace, he was able to distinguish the surroundings around him. The grass that he collapsed on was in its orange hue, but it looked light brown due to the nighttime sky.

But when he looked up towards the sky, he let his jaw drop to the ground.

The mushrooms were glowing! The stalks gave off a gold light that spread more than two-dozen feet in diameter. The caps either illuminated red or bright orange, letting off a very quixotic aura that filled the atmosphere.

The nighttime also allowed something else Alexander could see. Buried beneath the grass were small orange and brown-capped mushroom sprouts. The caps of the baby mushrooms retracted, wrapping the small stalks. Then, a few seconds later, they spread apart again, becoming small circular caps. Despite the size, they glowed very brightly as the caps acted like nightlights in a dark hallway.

Alexander, with a huge grin on his face, bent down and caressed a brown-capped sprout with his finger. "Hey there, little buddy," he cooed as he tickled the cute but fragile stalk of the sprout.

The sprout responded by affectionately rubbing the side of Alexander's index finder. Not only that, it also started to purr softly.

Alexander smiled at the antics of the baby mushroom, but wondered about its mysterious purring.

The red Chaos Emerald detected his thoughts instantly. **"She likes you,"** she said as she and her cyan companion hovered over Alex's head.

"Probably," smiled Alexander as he stopped scratching the sprout. _"Perhaps that's why it was purring,"_ he thought as he walked away from the proud sprout. _"Now, time to see the group of mushrooms on top of the hill,"_ he concluded as he started walking up the grassy plateau.

As he reached the top of the hill, he gasped in awe at the sight 145 yards away from him. Each mushroom was glowing brightly, the caps illumining bright orange, and the trunks glowing gold.

When Alexander walked closer to the mushrooms, he noticed that, like the smaller mushrooms in the background, the glow exposed the orange color from the grass. In addition, more brown and orange sprouts encircled the exotic fungi. The moment he stopped in front of one of four small fungi, he looked up at the two seven-yard mushrooms as they towered above him. "Wow," the child gasped as he looked straight up.

**"****They look nice, don't they?"** wondered the red Chaos Emerald.

"Without a doubt," said Alexander, before looking down, courtesy of a purring orange sprout caressing his lower-right leg.

"Looks like he likes me, too," the child said with a smile before walking under the canopy of mushrooms.

He kept walking until he was the center of the square. When he stood in between both mushrooms, he walked right and sat down on the grass, leaning on the mushroom in the process.

"Ah, this is the life," sighed Alexander.

**"****No kidding,"** said the red Chaos Emerald with a sigh.

**"****Can't deny that,"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald.

The red Chaos Emerald immediately turned to her cyan partner once hearing that phrase. **"You seem to have changed,"** she said with surprise.

**"****I have?"** wondered the cyan Chaos Emerald.

The red gem nodded. **"A few minutes ago, you were so concentrated on the deal. And, now, you're acting like you don't care about it at all. Why is that?"**

"_I think I know why,"_ hypothesized Alexander in thought.

**"****Hmm,"** pondered the cyan Chaos Emerald and tiltled downwards while remaining suspended in the air. **"To be honest, I'm not quite sure why."**

"_Such contradictions there,"_ thought Alexander slyly.

The cyan Chaos Emerald immediately grumbled upon "hearing" that. **"You win, Alex,"** he said begrudgingly. **"I'll have to admit, I'm starting to feel a little stressed out about the deal. And I wanna relax for the time being."**

**"****If you can,"** chirped the red Chaos Emerald as she balanced on top of Alexander's left knee.

"No joke," agreed Alexander. "In fact, that's the reason why I wanna come here rather than stay at Hidden Palace right now."

The red Chaos Emerald turned to him. **"It is?"**

"Well," said Alexander, _"one_ of them. I had only thought about it after walking away from the altar." He then looked at the light blue Chaos Emerald, who was now resting on the ground. "I think I might've hinted you that."

The gemstone slowly straightened up. **"Yeah, I remember,"** he said. **"You told me about wanting to talk to me and her while away from the shrine while she was delivering Sonic and the others the message."**

**"****You did?" **queried the ruby-colored Chaos Emerald. **"But why here and not near Hidden Palace?"**

Alexander looked down, his eyes showing glumness. "Well, the reason is this," he said. "It started earlier this evening at the Hidden Palace…" And he began his tale.

* * *

Alexander was not far behind Sonic, but he still stayed a little behind. He looked at the surroundings around him. On each side of the path, huge pine trees towered above. They looked like they were about 100 feet in height. The bottoms of the trunks were very wide and very large: They seemed to be about four yards in circumference. There were at least 2,000 limbs on each tree, and they seemed to be strong and firm, even though they moved back and forth because of the waft that passed by. 

"It looks like I haven't recognized the beauties of the forest as of yet," Alexander whispered to himself, but it was low enough so Sonic would not hear.

**"****Beauties they are,"** echoed the red jewel from within Alexander's head, agreeing with his statement.

Alexander jumped when he heard her voice shake from inside. "What are you doing here _inside my head?"_ he whispered crossly.

**"****I want to contact you, but we can_not_ let them find out that we can speak,"** said the red Chaos Emerald.

"Why's that?" wondered Alexander.

**"****None of your business," **snapped the cyan Chaos Emerald, his voice echoing inside Alexander's head, as well.

Alexander wanted to respond back, but Sonic's voice beat him to it.

"C'mon, Alexander!" the blue hedgehog called as he stopped at the first landing of the stairwell.

"In a minute!" Alex caught back, and Sonic walked ahead. As the blue hedgehog walked away, the Halbery child's scowl became more prominent as he had some cross thoughts on the gems' voices rumbling in his head.

"_Great. Just great. Now, I have these voices from the Chaos Emeralds echoing in my head. I hope it's not everlasting."_

**"****Don't count on it,"** the cyan gem hissed.

Alexander scowled for a moment before relaxing both his attitude and expression. He was about to continue walking when a sudden gust blew right at him, causing his hair to be blown in front of his face.

"Aw, nuts," he grumbled as the wind smacked his face. But as he moved his air away from his turquoise eyes, something hit him in his right leg, and the wind died down afterwards.

"Hmm?" Alexander wondered as the mysterious object hit him in the right leg. He looked down and noticed four small, squared pieces of blank parchment lying messily on top of his shoe.

Alexander picked them up and looked at them thoroughly, and he noticed a small tear near one of the sides on each of the pages. He did not know why they were there, but he thought that they would be useful for later. As a result, he rolled them up and placed them in his pocket.

After placing the parchment away, he looked up and saw Sonic on the bottom of the stairwell toward Hidden Palace.

"_I better catch up,"_ he thought and followed him, not even knowing that a nail was pinned on a naked tree nearby.

However, as he walked toward the altar, little did he know that he was about to receive an unwelcoming wake-up call…

"What do you mean you won't allow him to stay here?" exclaimed Amy.

"I do not want him to stay near here," replied Knuckles, who was looking away from an argumentative Amy.

"What in the world's going on?" asked Sonic the moment he stepped foot on the walkway. He walked on the right side of the shrine and walked around until he was on the opposite side of the altar. That was when he saw Amy and Knuckles, who were in an argument. Tails was nowhere in view, for he went to repair the Tornado a little before Sonic went to search for Alexander.

"Knuckles will not let Alexander stay here!" cried out Amy.

"No surprise from that melodramatic reaction," muttered Sonic to himself.

Knuckles glared at him; he heard what Sonic said. "I don't trust him so much," he said to Sonic.

"Why shouldn't you?" asked Amy, her voice still a little high-pitched than her actual vocalization. "You don't know him at all!"

"I just don't," said Knuckles; then, he leaned his head toward the edge and stared at Alexander, who had just stepped onto the pedestal at the bottom of the stairwell, _"especially_ when he's near the Master Emerald!"

Because he was too far away, Alexander was unable to hear what the argument was all about, except for the part about the Master Emerald.

"_Master Emerald?"_ he wondered to himself and he walked up the main stairs. _"What's that?"_

**"****I don't believe you were very observant while you were having your cuts treated,"** snipped the cyan Chaos Emerald from within Alexander's head – Alexander groaned in disgust the moment his voice echoed, but the jewel ignored him. **"See the mega-stone in the front of you?"**

Although Alexander saw the artifact before while on the bridge, he never quite depicted the gem in vivid detail. But now that he was near, he could see what the Master Emerald actually looked like. While walking up the main stairs, Alexander gazed intently at the mystic artifact. The Master Emerald was about six feet in both height and circumference. The top of the Master Emerald was in an octagon shape, similar to the Chaos Emeralds. While the top of the Emeralds was the same, the sides were not.

On four sides of the Master Emerald, the top had the shape of a pentagon, reaching about one-third down the side. Along each angular side was one equilateral triangle, and in between was an isosceles triangle. The bottom half of these sides started with a diamond that was equal along all sides, and the sides of the top of the diamond were two small right triangles. Finally, along each side – as well as the bottom corner – of the diamond, a white scratch slid down to the bottom on the Master Emerald, which had the same point tip as the smaller Chaos Emeralds.

Between each of the sides were these. The top was rectangular, and it was about the size as the rectangular part of the pentagon. Below it was three triangles. One had the side facing the top and the point directing toward the ground, while two acute triangles (one on each side) connected the two angular sides while bordering the equilateral triangles on each side. Below the triangles was a pentagon that bordered the sides of the diamonds. Finally, below the pentagon was a triangle that slid down to the tip of the Master Emerald on the bottom, but not without a white line that split between the three-sided polygon.

"_I can tell this is the Master Emerald,"_ thought Alexander after thoroughly examining the Master Emerald.

**"****What are you, blind?"** said the cyan gem sarcastically. He was starting to become very impatient for reasons that were unknown to Alexander. **"Of course this is the Master Emerald. This gem is the reason _why_ this island floats in the sky!"**

"_Wow!"_ gasped Alexander the moment the cyan Chaos Emerald's voice told him the news. _"I can't believe this Emerald can do such a thing!"_

**"****It's a very powerful jewel,"** said the red Chaos Emerald's voice – Alexander welcomed her interrupting the light blue Chaos Emerald… even though he detested their voices echoing in his mind. **"This Emerald can not only keep the island afloat, but it can also neutralize us Chaos Emeralds."**

"_It can?"_

**"****That's right, Alexander,"** replied the female-voiced jewel kindly.

Alexander let the words sink as he stared at the green Master Emerald in front of him. He could not believe that this Emerald was the reason why the island floated in the sky. Let alone keep the Chaos Emeralds' powers in check.

"_Amazing that this Emerald can have so much power,"_ he thought ecstatically. _"And I can feel the power coming from it."_ He sighed quietly. _"I wonder what it would be like if I can see what the power's like."_ He kept walking up until he reached the last step. Once he reached the landing, he started walking down the stone path that led him to the big green gem. When he was at arm's length toward it, he stretched his right hand out and reached for the Master Emerald, hoping that he would be able to touch it, hoping to feel some of the power that it magnificently contained.

"HANDS OFF!"

Alexander was knocked back to his senses after hearing Knuckles's gruff voice echo throughout the valley.

The echidna ran from behind the jewel and threw a punch at him, but Alexander dodged it by rolling on the grass and jumping to the middle deck below him.

"NEVER GO NEAR THE MASTER EMERALD, GOT IT?" yelled Knuckles to Alexander, who was hiding in the shadows of the Hidden Palace.

"Enough, Knuckles!" scolded Amy and walked in front of the red echidna. "What's wrong with you?"

"He nearly touched the Master Emerald, that's what!" replied Knuckles angrily, although his tone was calmer (but not _that_ calm).

"And you would think he would actually break this?" said Sonic as he walked toward them, a calm, cocky smile on his face. "This thing is too strong. It would take a lot of power to shatter this puppy up." He tapped the Master Emerald lightly with his fist. "And besides—" he glanced at Alexander, who grabbed hold of the ledge near the stairwell and pulled himself up to the top landing, "—he's just a child."

"A child that _I_ don't trust," finished Knuckles. "I won't allow him to stay near the Master Emerald."

"But how will he be able to live?" asked Sonic. He quickly looked at Alexander, who was now sitting on the top step of the shrine. His body was facing away from the group, but he was hearing every word from the frolicking trio. "From how battered he looks, he's been traveling for miles, and he may be tired."

"Plus, he might not have a home," added Amy. "Do you think that he _should_ stay for that?"

Knuckles closed his eyes and pondered after what Amy and Sonic said. He remained in that position for about two minutes when he opened his eyes and looked at Alexander again.

"I will allow him," said Knuckles, _"only_ if he's homeless," he added before Amy and Sonic started smiling.

"Well, I'll admit, I _do_ have a home," said Alexander when he turned around. "I came from another world, but the portal I traveled to is no longer open." He then quickly thought, _"I hope."_

Knuckles pondered for a moment before interrogating him again. "Do you remember where it is?"

Alexander shook his head.

Knuckles pondered some more. He was quiet for a moment before he sighed and gave his answer. "Okay. You can stay here."

Sonic and Amy smiled at each other, and Alexander sighed in relief.

"However," Knuckles added, his voice becoming stern and almost like an scold, "once the portal reopens, then you, kid, will have to return home. I still don't trust you, and I'll keep an eye on you while you're here."

The two hedgehogs sighed from this. Whenever Knuckles said something in that matter, his decision was final. And it was likely that he was not going to change his mind.

As for Alexander, the announcement made him look a little crestfallen as he turned away from the altar again.

Sonic felt sorry for Alexander and walked over to him, courtesy of some urgent gestures from Amy, who felt apologetic, as well.

"Don't worry," said Sonic and patted Alexander's shoulder. "He'll get used to you."

"It's okay," said Alexander.

Sonic shrugged and jumped down to the ground below, hollering joyously.

Alexander smiled at Sonic's actions, and he looked up at the golden sky again. He thought about Sonic's words, and he thanked him for that. He was also thankful for being allowed to stay… but he wished that Knuckles could trust him.

* * *

**"****Knuckles's words must've hit you hard,"** said the red Chaos Emerald after the tale ended. 

"Mm-hmm," said Alexander with a nod.

**"****He's just a little upset over the circumstances that had happened over the last few months,"** sympathized the red gemstone.

**"****After having the Master Emerald shattered twice in the last nine months, as well as being the stubborn echidna that he is, it's bound to make him pretty upset,"** added the cyan Chaos Emerald, explaining what his red companion was talking about.

Alexander nodded slowly and put his right hand under his chin. "Apparently, he's the one who guards the Master Emerald," thought Alexander aloud. "No wonder why he's so worried about it."

**"****Correct,"** answered the cyan Chaos Emerald. **"Don't let Knuckles's words get to you. Sooner or later, he'll learn to trust you."**

"I hope so," replied Alexander with a small smile, but his smile quickly disappeared as he began rubbing his temple with his right hand. "Man, my head hurts," he groaned.

Both gems looked at him with some concern.

**"****Feeling okay?"** the red Chaos Emerald asked.

"I'll be fine," said Alexander. "My head's throbbing a little after getting banged in the head with my travel bag earlier this evening."

Both gems flinched but jittering up and down for a moment, as if they cringed.

**"****Ouch,"** groaned the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"Tell me about it," laughed Alexander.

Soon after, his mood changed as his grimace became a small smile. He stopped rubbing his forehead, also.

Afterwards, Alexander looked at the underside of the mushrooms above him and sighed. "Beautiful mushrooms, aren't they?"

Both Chaos Emeralds titled to where the top and bottom were parallel from the ground.

**"****They are beautiful,"** agreed the red Chaos Emerald before titling downward again.

Then, out of nowhere, Alexander had something else to think about, especially since the family of mushrooms was different form the others in a unique way. "You know," he pondered, "there's something interesting about them that stands out from the others."

**"****What do you mean?"** asked the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"Take a good look at the mushrooms we're 'trapped' in," Alexander said, pointing at the tall mushrooms that sat around them.

The gems skimmed a brief look at them, and then motioned Alexander to continue.

"And remember the forest that we crossed earlier today," he continued and peered through the opening between the small and medium-sized mushrooms. While they were quite some distance away, the outline of several of the mushrooms could still be seen. "These mushrooms we're under now look very different, especially the height." He then touched the gigantic stem behind him. "In addition, they look healthier. It's like they've been growing for a long time." He stopped caressing the stem and looked at the cap above. "I wonder why."

"The reason is because they're the oldest mushrooms in Mushroom Hill," said a boy's voice.

Alexander gasped at the sudden vocality (the Chaos Emeralds immediately dropped to the ground). He turned to the other mushroom stem on his left and saw a small little Mobian sitting away from them. His height was about three feet, two inches, and he had a reddish-brown body. Red-brown hair drooped down his head, and two long antennae sprouted on the top of his head. His eyes were oval-shaped with a space in the middle, and he had mahogany-colored irises. While the view was obscure from Alexander's perspective, the Mobian's nose was beige, and it was both very long and _very_ sharp.

His body was small, and he had two long transparent blue wings. His arms were red-brown, and they were quite long, almost as long as his body. On his hands were beige gloves, with the cuff being dark brown. Even though Alexander could not see it, the color of his stomach was light yellow, and it was in the shape of a diamond.

His long legs were bent to where it met his chin. His socks were beige, and they extended just below his knee. His shoes were brown, and they have both a white stripe in the middle as well as a gray sole on the bottom. Finally, his tail was as long as his legs, and it bent down before jolting diagonally upwards again; it looked a lot like a boomerang, compared to Knuckles's lightning-shaped tail. And just like his seven-inch nose, his tail was very sharp, for it was pointy at the tip.

From what Alexander could depict, the person was a Mobian mosquito.

"Excuse me?" wondered Alexander.

"This family of mushrooms here are the oldest throughout the entire forest, all four sections, to be exact," replied the mosquito. "This family of mushrooms have been brooding for nearly a whole century now. The others are no older than 50 years old."

"Wow," said Alexander after hearing the explanation. "They're _that_ old?" he added as he looked up at the tall ones above him.

"Yep," said the mosquito. "They're very old. Because of this, this group we're sitting under now is known as the Royal Mushrooms."

"Fascinating," said Alexander, not taking his eyes off the two tall Royal Mushrooms. "How do you know about this?"

"Well, what else?" said the mosquito and looked at the human. "I live here, and my ancestors have been taking care of this forest for almost three hundred years now."

Alexander's jaw dropped. "Wow!" he wanted to say (reiterating the same phrase that he uttered moments ago), but he was not able to thus time. But he kept gawking at the tall mushrooms all the same.

"Amazing mushrooms, huh?" said the mosquito, seemingly detecting his thoughts via reaction.

"Can't disagree with that," replied Alexander, still looking up. But when his stomach growled, he turned his attention from them and held his stomach, a light blush tinted on his cheeks.

"I think that, because of my journeying, I forgot that I was hungry," muttered the child to himself.

The mosquito heard him. "Hungry, eh?"

Alexander nodded, his cheeks reddening.

"Nothin' to it," said the mosquito and looked at the stalk of the mushroom. Then, like the speed of light, he jabbed at the stalk with his pointy nose. Once he pulled his nose off the trunk, a rich yellow liquid sprouted from the opening from the trunk.

The Mobian insect quickly grabbed a couple of cups that he carried from parts unknown and put one of them under the liquid. Once the cup was full, he quickly placed the other cup under the "fountain," and it reached the rim in a matter of moments.

After he pulled the cup away from the mushroom, the liquid slowed and stopped leaking from within the bark. Covering the hole now was a new coat of bark.

Alexander gasped from the trunk closing the hole, but the mosquito acted like what the mushroom did was normal.

"That's what will usually happen once there's a hole in the bark of a mushroom," the insect replied. "They don't want their sap containing any kind of poison."

"I see," said Alexander.

"Here," said the mosquito and handed the sap-filled cup to Alexander.

Alexander looked at the liquid like it was poisonous, but he received the offer nonetheless.

"Bottoms up," finished the mosquito and drank the substance.

Alexander did not release his gaze from the liquid. He was feeling a little scared of taking. What if it was toxic?

The mosquito realized this. "It's all right, kid," he said, causing Alexander to look at him. "It's not dangerous. It's actually more like sweet nectar, to be exact."

Alexander raised his right eyebrow. "Nectar?"

"Mm-hmm," replied the mosquito and continued drinking.

Alexander gulped, for he never liked anything containing nectar, but he closed his eyes and took a small sip. It felt very cold, like a juice that sat in the winter air for weeks. It tingled down his throat and into his body.

To Alexander's enjoyment, he actually _liked_ it! With that, he took another sip, then another, and then took a large gulp.

"Very good," smiled Alexander and licked his lips. The cup was now half-full.

The mosquito smiled. "I knew you'd like it," he said and preceded to finish the rest of the nectar that was in the cup.

Alexander smiled and drank the rest of the liquid.

"Ah," he sighed and gave the cup back to the mosquito. "Thank you. It made me feel much better."

"Don't mention it," the mosquito replied and put the cup away.

While he was doing so, Alexander looked at the gap between the small and medium-sized mushrooms and gazed at the glowing fungi in the distance. Just like the Royal Mushrooms, they, too, seemed to be swaying back and forth. Only that it merely rocked back and forth in a slow but steady pace.

"From what you said," said Alexander when he faced the mosquito (he had already put the cups away), "you told me that there were four sections of the Mushroom Hill, right?"

"That's correct. What about it?"

"Earlier this afternoon, after I was punted to a brook nearby, I noticed that there was a forest containing blue-colored mushrooms. What are those?"

"The blue mushrooms?" asked the mosquito.

Alexander nodded.

"Those are called the Autumn Mushrooms," the insect replied.

"Autumn Mushrooms?"

"Yes," nodded the mosquito. "There are four kinds of mushrooms. The blue ones are Autumn Mushrooms. The orange ones we're in now are called Summer Mushrooms. The magenta-capped fungi are called Winter Mushrooms, and the Spring Mushrooms are the green-capped ones."

"I see," said Alexander and put his right hand under his chin. He was becoming very interested in exploring those regions of the forest. The only problem was that would his newfound friend go through the extremes to tour him throughout the forest. Moreover, from the nighttime sky – and the fact that the moon had already vanished – he wondered if it was becoming a little bit too late to go tonight. While he wrote a note to the others that he would be back, he was worried about the wrath he would have to face from Knuckles if he was caught sneaking off.

With that, Alexander turned to the mosquito. "Do you think we could explore the other regions of Mushroom Hill tomorrow?"

The mosquito turned to the human. "If I'm not busy, I wouldn't say it's a very bad idea."

"Good," smiled Alexander. "Where do we rendezvous?"

"How about here at ten o'clock tomorrow morning?"

"Not a bad idea," said Alexander and got to his feet. "Well, it's a pleasure talking to you. What's your name?"

"The name's Roquefort," said the mosquito and extended his hand while remaining on the ground.

"My name's Alexander Halbery, Roquefort," said the child as the two shook hands. After grabbing his Chaos Emeralds, Alexander bid Roquefort the Mosquito farewell… for now and ran like the wind down the hill.

Roquefort smiled at the hyperactive human. "He's a very good kid, that Alexander," said the mosquito to himself. He then opened his mouth wide as he yawned. "Time for me to sleep," he muttered as he lied back on one of the stalks of the two tall Royal Mushrooms and closed his eyes.

What Roquefort did not know was that Alexander was leaning on a mushroom at the bottom of the plateau, watching him doze off.

"He's not that bad… for a mosquito," he chimed to the Chaos Emeralds, who were floating at eye level.

**"****What makes you say that?"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"Because the mosquitoes from my world have bitten me like there was no tomorrow," he said, his eyes narrowing.

**"****You're saying it like it's a _bad_ thing, Alexander,"** quipped the red Chaos Emerald.

"What'd you think?" said Alexander, annoyed. The last thing he wanted now was a discussion of the mosquitoes that he had encountered in his home world. "C'mon. Let's get outta here."

The red Chaos Emerald floated above Alexander's right hand and landed softly into his awaiting palm.

**"****You know what to do, I suppose,"** she said cheerfully.

Alexander closed his eyes and pictured the place he wanted to go to. He wanted it to be as perfectly detailed as possible. He did not want to be a part of a Chaos Control that went awry.

Finally, after picturing the place he wanted to go to, he raised the hand he had the Emerald in into the air.

"_Chaos Control!"_ he shouted and was engulfed in a bright red light. He felt the warm surroundings for a few seconds when the warm, comfortable feeling he had vanished. Chaos Control had done its job.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed that he no longer tired. He was standing up; his eyes and limbs were not dangling; furthermore, he did not lose any energy.

**"****Told you you wouldn't lose your energy after a second time,"** laughed the red Chaos Emerald, who was still in Alexander's hand.

The child laughed and looked around. He noticed he was in a valley. Tall, silhouetted trees enclosed the perimeter, and in front of him was a small stairwell.

Alexander smiled. If he knew what place this was, he would not have to regret fibbing to the others earlier that night.

**"****Where are we, Alex?"** asked the red Chaos Emerald as she freed herself from Alexander's grip and floated in the air.

Alexander walked up the small stairwell and walked toward a small bush that stood in the center of the horseshoe. His smile widened. "If my calculations are correct," he replied, "this was where I entered Mobius."

**"****You entered this planet right here?"** asked the red gem.

**"****That's right,"** replied the cyan Chaos Emerald, who floating in the air next to his red companion. **"Alexander walked up a ladder and entered _through_ this bush we're seeing right now."**

**"****I see… Now, why did we travel here?"**

"Just to take a close look at the portal," answered Alexander. He bent down and dug into the plant with his hands. When he spread the leaves apart, he noticed that the ladder was missing. In addition, there was no well to camouflage it.

The portal was gone.

Alexander's smile spread from ear to ear. "Thank goodness," he sighed.

Both gems "looked" at him confusingly.

**"****Why's that?"** asked the red Chaos Emerald.

"Because I'm not interested in going back to my home for the time being," replied Alexander. "Besides, I'm really starting to enjoy this place. I've made some nice friends while being here, and I've glad to have met you two on the way."

**"****Aw, shucks!"** blushed the Chaos Emeralds.

Alexander laughed. _"Now,_ let's return to the Hidden Palace." He closed his eyes, raised the red Emerald high into the air, shouted _"Chaos Control!"_ and vanished in a ball of light.

He returned on the front steps of the altar and noticed that Sonic, Tails, and Amy have been sleeping for the entire time. In each of their hands was the note that the gem helped Alexander write in. Alexander bent down and grabbed the notes form each of their hands, while trying not to wake them.

"I better use them again before heading out tomorrow," the child said to himself and walked up the stairs, where he retrieved the note from a snoozing Knuckles and went to sleep.

* * *

"Where is that kid?" grumbled Knuckles the following morning. 

While the Mobians were snoozing the morning away, Alexander did as he promised by sneaking off and disappearing… again. The guardian was very upset that he was not able to keep a watchful eye on him. The moment he woke up, he looked around, and noticed Alexander had vanished from the area. As a result, the Mobian echidna yelled out in frustration. He had yet to trust the Halbery child, and it was _very_ unlikely that it would happen anytime soon.

"I think we got our answer, Knux," said Sonic as he walked to the top of the altar. In his right hand was a small piece of rough parchment with the same note that Alexander had from last night.

"Lemme see," said Knuckles and snatched it away from Sonic's hand. He read the note two times, and he was not looking too happy as a result.

"Something tells me Alexander went off to explore," said Sonic with a smile.

Knuckles's eyebrows twitched vigorously. "Once I find that kid…" he growled softly, "I WILL PUNCH HIS LIGHTS OUT!"

"What's all the noise?" wondered Tails as he walked up to Sonic and Knuckles. Amy followed the two-tailed fox up to them.

"Alexander snuck off to Mushroom Hill," answered Sonic. "And Knuckles ain't too happy about it," he added with a laugh.

"You can say that again," agreed Amy while looking at Knuckles, whose back was turned, sulking from the circumstance.

Before they could talk about it anymore, playful cackling echoed the area. It seemed to belong to a hyperactive adolescent boy.

"Where's that coming from?" wondered Knuckles, no longer in a bad mood.

"Don't look at me," said Sonic.

"Well, I can tell you this," said Amy and brandished her hammer. "That is _definitely_ not the way Eggman laughs."

All four Mobians backed up to where they met each other's backs. They were all in their fighting stances, preparing for an upcoming battle.

The cackle continued to reverberate around the area, and it became louder and louder little by little.

"This laugh is starting to give me some chills," said Amy with a wavered voice, but she held tight on her Piko-Piko Hammer and kept her face of determination.

"Me, too," said Sonic and looked back and forth to find the source of the voice.

Then, as if it would last forever… the cackle dissipated.

"Huh?" wondered all four Mobius simultaneously.

"That's weird," said Knuckles.

"I can be sure that voice was coming from somewhere," said Tails as he looked in the blue sky above.

"Agreed," added Amy as she dropped her Piko-Piko hammer to the ground.

All four Mobians looked back and forth trying to find the source of the voice.

They were not able to find it, which was odd for them. They were more than positive that it was somewhere around the Hidden Palace, but why were they not able to find it? It left unanswered questions for them.

While they looked everywhere they could possibly think of, they forgot one place to search for the mysterious culprit…

"Hey, guys!"

…It was right in the middle of the pack.

All four Mobius screamed their heads off and collapsed, back first, onto the ground. In the middle was a small Payne's Gray robot. He was about one-and-a-half feet in height, and he was feisty. His head was big, and he had one upward hedgehog quill on each side of his head. On the top of his head was a gray outline. His eyes were green, and his mouth and tongue were bright blue.

His body and arms were also dark gray, with red cuffs as shoulders. His hands were covered with a white glove. A yellow "M" was the symbol for his stomach, and he carried a gray jet booster on his back. His legs were gray, and his boots were red and reached to his knee. Finally, in front of him was a green bag with the word "EGG" in yellow letters.

All the Mobians got to their feet and looked at the robot suspiciously.

"Who's this robot?" wondered Amy to herself.

"Good question," replied Sonic.

The robot closed his eyes and put his right hand over the "M" on his chest. "My name is Bokkun, and it's a pleasure to meet you. I was sent here to you to give you a message."

"A message?" said Tails quizzically.

"That's correct!" replied Bokkun and opened the bag. He dug into it and picked up a small yellow television. He set it down, and before he could be questioned, he flew down the path to the bridge and disappeared into the forest.

Sonic looked at the television with some suspicion. "I wonder what the message is…" Without giving any second thoughts, he pressed the button on the bottom left-hand corner, turning on the television.

Once the screen was turned on, they all yelped. Eggman was facing the screen with a smile on his face.

"Good morning, Sonic!" the scientist smirked.

Sonic was the first to pluck up courage. "All right, Eggman. What do you want?"

"Yeah!" snarled Knuckles. "Why do you want to fight us anyway? We don't have any Chaos Emeralds with us!"

"I know," said Eggman, "but I believe that the anomaly that I tracked had it."

"Anomaly?" puzzled Knuckles.

"Yes, stupid. Anomaly," snapped Eggman. "He was on this island, and he had a Chaos Emerald in his possession. I plan on tracking him down and destroying the person who has them!"

"If it's an innocent bystander, we won't let that happen!" yelled Amy, grappling her hammer.

"You won't?" groaned Eggman with sadness and grabbed a tissue. "Well, that's touching." He blew his nose, and tossed it across the screen. "Well, try as you might, because I will collect the Emeralds and conquer the world at last!" He cackled loudly before saying the words, "See ya later this afternoon." Afterwards, the screen shut itself down.

Amy growled from the Doctor's remarks. "I'm really hating that Eggman."

"Me, too," said Sonic. He then put his left hand under his chin. "But I'm wondering what he meant by 'anomaly.'"

"Good question," pondered Knuckles as they all started thinking about the "anomaly."

It would not last for long.

"Uh-oh," said Tails.

Everyone looked at the two-tailed fox.

"What is it, little bro?" asked Sonic.

"Last night, I felt Chaos Energy coming from Alexander's bag," replied Tails. "It was very faint, and I wasn't sure if my guess was accurate, so I ignored it, but I was sure I sensed it." After saying that, his golden face started to pale. "If Alexander had the Emeralds, then that means—"

"—Alexander was the anomaly!" finished Amy.

Now, it was starting to make sense.

"So, _that's_ why Eggman attacked the island earlier this week," said Knuckles. "The kid possessed a Chaos Emerald." He then grumbled softly and – with frustration – added in thought, _"This kid is more trouble than I first thought."_

"Correction," said Tails and flashed a "V" symbol with his right hand. "He possesses _two_ Chaos Emeralds."

"Two Chaos Emeralds?" asked Amy.

"Mm-hmm," hummed Tails with a nod. "There was another form of very faint Chaos Energy coming from within his travel bag."

"And, now, Eggman's trying to find them?" said Amy.

Tails nodded.

Amy growled contemptuously. "Why that no good son of a—" And she smashed the television with her hammer. Big mistake…

_**BOOM!**_

Once she destroyed the screen, the television exploded, covering all four Mobians with black dust. However, it would not be very long before they shook the soot off.

"We must warn Alexander and quickly!" said Tails.

"Right!" said Sonic and looked at the note in his right hand. "And I know just where Alexander might be…"

* * *

Alexander landed at the top of the plateau near the Royal Mushrooms after using Chaos Control with the red gemstone. His other Emerald was floating above Alexander's head and was looking ahead, even though he was still concentrating intently on the child under him. 

"It seems that we got away from the group in time," said Alexander as he stared at Angel Mountain in the horizon.

**"****Just barely,"** replied the red Chaos Emerald as she shot from Alexander's right hand and floated in midair. **"For I heard Sonic stir the moment we left."**

Suddenly, Knuckles's scream of frustration could be heard coming from the Angel Mountain area.

**"****And something tells me the others now know where we are,"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald.

"I had a hunch about that," agreed Alexander and made his way to the Royal Mushrooms. He hoped that Roquefort would be there; ready to show Alexander the landscape. But after a thorough search, he noticed Roquefort was gone.

"Where could he be?" thought Alexander aloud.

**"****Maybe Roquefort went out for a walk,"** suggested the red Chaos Emerald.

"Might be," said Alexander.

"Maybe not," interrupted a familiar masculine voice.

Alexander hummed, and the Chaos Emeralds, once again, collapsed onto the ground. The Halbery child looked up and saw Roquefort the Mosquito sitting on the edge of the tall right Royal Mushroom.

"Long time no see, Alexander," joked Roquefort as he jumped down, zoomed through a hole between the gap between the mushrooms, and landed softly on the orange ground.

"How long have you've been up there?" asked Alexander after picking up the Emeralds.

"Since I woke up this morning," replied Roquefort. "But never mind that. You wanted me to guide you through Mushroom hill, right?"

Alexander nodded.

"Then, in that case," said Roquefort and grabbed a three-foot wooden stick from the ground with his right hand, "let's go." And he walked down the hill.

Alexander smiled and followed the mosquito.

It would not be long before they encountered the same brook that Alexander fell into yesterday… all because the mysterious Mobian punted him there. Although he neither saw nor knew her, the mere thought of her made him very cross. He was now thinking of ways to get back at her.

Roquefort noticed this. "Are you feeling okay, Alex?" he asked. "You look very vengeful."

Alexander quickly shook his head and turned to the mosquito. "It's nothing," replied the boy sheepishly.

Roquefort looked at Alexander suspiciously, but said nothing about it and changed the subject. "There's a connection not far from here, we can cross to the Autumn Mushrooms there," he said and walked left.

Unfortunately, Alexander was so concentrated on plotting revenge on the mysterious female Mobian, he did not recognize Roquefort passing him.

"C'mon, Alexander!" called Roquefort.

Alexander immediately snapped out of it. "Coming!" responded the human and followed the oversized insect.

While they rounded the bend, Alexander gazed at the water below. It was clean and sparkly, just like the bodies of water he encountered in Angel Island. Then, he looked up at the blue mushrooms. The stalks looked like a rusty bronze, and the caps were either light blue with dark blue spots or vice-versa.

"I can't wait to see what the forest looks like," said Alexander to himself.

"You'll see in a minute," replied Roquefort.

Nothing more was said until they finished rounding the bend. When they arrived at the connection, he noticed a path of rocks protruded from the water. At the end of the trail was a pathway that entered the Autumn Mushrooms.

"Look like we cross via the rocks," observed Alexander.

"Correct," said Roquefort. "Just step on the rocks, and follow me. But be careful; they can be very slippery."

"I can guess," added Alexander after observing the rocks a little more; the tops looked very glossy, and it made Alexander a little worried.

Afterwards, Roquefort stepped on the nearest rock before walking onto the next one.

Alexander gulped. He wished he did not have to walk on the rocks, especially since he had a tendency to be extremely clumsy. Nevertheless, he stepped on the first rock. Nothing happened. Sighing in relief, he stepped on the next one. Nothing happened. Then, he stepped on another and another; he did not slip.

"_Thank heavens,"_ thought Alexander.

"Say, Alexander," said Roquefort, who was standing on a rock three-quarters from the shoreline. "Why did you look so tense while stepping on the rocks?"

Alexander caught up with Roquefort and stood straight up, trying to keep his balance on the rock. "I can be pretty clumsy at times," he admitted while tugging the collar of his shirt.

"I see," replied Roquefort and stepped on another rock in front of him. _"I hope he's careful; from the look in his eyes, he has a tendency to not watch where would be going."_

He was correct with his theory…

_**SPLASH!**_

Roquefort heard a splash, and he jumped over several rocks to one three feet from the shore. He looked down and saw Alexander lying face-first in the water.

"_I think I found the proof,"_ concluded Roquefort in thought, his face looking very frozen. He jumped and landed in the shallow water in front of the Halbery child. "Are you okay?" he asked and offered his right hand.

Alexander, his face still in the water, grasped Roquefort's hand and was hoisted to his feet.

"Maybe, I should've walked on the water instead," huffed Alex and squeezed the water out of his hair.

"I agree," chuckled Roquefort as he aided Alexander to the shoreline of the Autumn Mushrooms.

"Do you think you'll be okay?" the mosquito asked Alexander as they stepped onto the riverbank. "Autumn Mushroom Hill can be a little bit chilly, mind you."

"I'll live," replied Alexander with humor.

Roquefort smiled as they walked down the path of the Autumn Mushrooms.

What Roquefort said was true to his word: The weather felt a little chilly, compared to his home in New York City and the beautiful sceneries in Summer Mushroom Hill and Hidden Palace. And it was _definitely_ not compared to the muggy Cosmic Cave and the forest that led to Mushroom Hill.

"C-C-Cold," shivered Alexander while rubbing his left arm.

**"****Maybe, you should bring out your jacket,"** suggested the red Chaos Emerald's voice from inside Alexander's head.

Alexander groaned from the voice that rang in his head, but he obliged nonetheless by taking his sweater out of his travel bag and putting it on.

"Much better," Alexander sighed.

**"****Told you so,"** teased the red Chaos Emerald.

The child merely laughed and looked at the scenery around. Everywhere he looked, he saw blue mushrooms that varied in size. Many of the smaller mushrooms he saw were about three feet tall, while others varied from ten to approximately 45 feet tall.

"Wow," gasped Alexander in awe after gawking at a 40-foot-tall, dark-blue-capped Autumn Mushroom that towered on his right.

"Beauties of nature, aren't they?" said Roquefort.

Alexander nodded and walked toward it. "You can say that again," he responded and caressed the stalk with his right hand. Afterwards, he gave it a gentle pat and walked back to Roquefort.

Nothing more was said until they found themselves at an open stretch of land. Above them, the bright blue sky shone brightly, and thin feathery clouds wafted in the gentle breeze. On the ground, several blue-shaded fungi encircled the plateau. The caps were either light blue with dark blue dots or vice-versa, and they all varied in height. They were all spaced out to where not only the dirt was exposed, but also the roots. The roots were thin and small, but very sturdy and stuck in the rich soil, thus maintaining the occasional tall fungi from collapsing onto the ground.

Unlike the Summer Mushrooms, the Autumn Mushrooms surrounded the end of the plains with the shape of a horseshoe.

"Where are we now, Roquefort?" asked Alexander as he glanced at the mushrooms.

"We are at Horseshoe Gate: We're at the very end of the path," explained Roquefort. "We just have to walk a little further until we gaze at the open plains."

"Lead the way, then," said Alexander.

Roquefort obliged and walked on, Alexander following him.

A few minutes later, Alexander and Roquefort walked to the end of Horseshoe Gate and stared at the plains ahead of them. The thin grass from the plateau swayed in the gentle wind, but instead of the grass being bright orange, it was ruby red. The grass was about one and three-quarter inches tall, and it sparkled in the sunlight.

There were still blue-capped mushrooms that sprouted here and there throughout the area, but they were smaller, scattered, and more spaced out than the mushrooms at the Horseshoe Gate.

Roquefort easily predicted Alexander's reaction from earlier; the Halbery child sighed in awe from the beauty that cast the Mushroom Hill.

"I suspect that you like the scenery," said Roquefort teasingly.

Alexander said nothing as he gawked at the plains.

"I think he does," laughed Roquefort. Then, he cleared his throat and tapped Alexander's right shoulder with his left hand. "Ready to go, now?" he asked.

"Hmm?" wondered Alexander after feeling Roquefort's gloved hand on his shoulder. He turned around and nodded.

Afterwards, Roquefort walked straight into the grassy field, Alexander not far behind.

As they walked on the plains, Alexander looked back and forth and noticed several tall, but vibrant, Autumn Mushrooms that towered above him. Although they were not as tall as the Royal Mushrooms in the Summer region, they were tall and gorgeous nevertheless.

"Seems like your ancestors have done marvelous wonders during their generations," complimented Alexander.

Roquefort looked behind him and smiled humbly. "Thanks, Alexander," he said before looking ahead again. "I'm glad that you liked all the hard work that our ancestors have made."

"_And you should,"_ thought Alexander with a smile. He then looked toward his right and gazed at he underside of a 25-foot-tall, light blue-capped Autumn Mushroom. _"Something tells me that this will be a welcoming haven anytime I travel here in the future."_

What he did not know was that trouble was about to brew.

_**WHOOSH!**_

A brush of wind zoomed by Alexander's left, almost knocking him to the ground.

"What the—" cried the child and looked behind him. What he saw was a querulous gray robot zooming into Horseshoe Gate and into the forest.

"What in the world was that?" exclaimed Alexander, his turquoise eyes widening out of surprise.

"Don't know," replied Roquefort, shaking his head. "But from the jet, it looks like a robot." Afterwards, he was about to continue walking ahead when he noticed Alexander standing still. "What's the matter, Alexander? You look like there's a problem."

Alexander remained as still as a statue, but after a few quick moments, he sighed and turned to Roquefort. "Yes, there is a problem. There's something strange about that robot, and I don't like it one bit."

**"****And you shouldn't,"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald's voice through Alexander's head. **"That was Eggman's messenger robot; trouble will be ensuing if we don't leave now."**

**"****He's right,"** said the red Chaos Emerald's voice. **"This is too dangerous. You must leave."**

"_Why is that?"_ asked Alexander, not caring if the echoes in his head annoyed him or not.

**"****I'm not exactly sure,"** replied the cyan gemstone, **"but it seems that Eggman is after you."**

Alexander reacted with a frightful gasp.

"Alexander?" interrupted Roquefort and tapped his left shoulder, snapping Alexander out of it.

The human turned to the mosquito. "I must get out of here. I'm not safe here."

"Why's that?" wondered the mosquito.

"I'm not sure," said Alexander and stared at the sky; for some reason, he could not admit to Roquefort that the Chaos Emeralds were talking to him, so he quickly thought up a diversion to cover it up, "but I have a hunch that Eggman is now after me." With that, he broke into a run toward the Horseshoe Gate.

"Alexander, wait up!" called Roquefort as his transparent blue wings started flapping rapidly. Then, in a burst of speed, he zoomed after the child.

"_Alexander!"_ called Roquefort after landing in front of Alexander near Horseshoe Gate. "Where do you have to go?"

Alexander was about to answer, but the cyan gem's voice beat him to it.

"**You must find Sonic alone. You can't let Roquefort see you."**

After the gem's words, Alexander gave him his answer. "No offense, but I have to go alone."

"Why?"

Alexander sighed before answering. "Let's just say that someone is controlling my thoughts."

Roquefort became crestfallen, but Alexander put his right hand on his left shoulder. "But I'll be back soon, if that's all right."

The pre-teen mosquito smiled. "Gotcha."

"Good," said Alexander and ran into the forest as fast as he could.

* * *

Alexander ran as fast as his feet would allow him to, and it would not be long until he reached the creak again. This time, he jumped into the shallow water and jogged his way to the other side of the shoreline, nearly tripping over on the riverbank in the process. And after a few quick sprints, he was back at the path towards the Royal Mushrooms. 

Alexander walked about halfway down the path to the plateau when he veered right and behind a yellow-capped Summer Mushroom.

"That was close," panted the child and unzipped the travel bag.

Out came the two Emeralds as they hovered in front of him.

**"****You were lucky to escape from that persistent mosquito,"** said the cyan Emerald. **"Talk about a fast flyer."**

"Later," snapped Alexander and waved his left hand to signal silence to the gems. "Now, what about that robot messenger that zoomed by?"

**"****According to my calculations, that robot was named Bokkun, and he carries messages to anyone who's one of Eggman's targets,"** replied the cyan Chaos Emerald.

**"****Although he never gave _you_ a message,"** went on the red Chaos Emerald, **"I suspect that whatever Bokkun did has something to do with you."**

Alexander slowly blinked and looked up towards the sky. "I wouldn't be surprised," he drawled. "But I need to hurry and find Sonic. Can I use Chaos Control for this?"

The Emeralds shook their shells.

**"****I don't think so,"** said the red Emerald solemnly. **"I had a strange feeling that they went to find you already, and you're not experienced with Chaos Control as of yet; so, it won't be wise to use it without knowing where the others are."**

"Good point," said Alexander observantly, still staring up at the sky. "So, I guess I'll just have to wait for them to find me."

**"****And I assume they know where to go, too,"** cut in the cyan jewel. **"Those notes we helped writing might be worthwhile."**

"Might be," replied Alexander after putting his head down and dug out the notes that were in his right pocket. He only had three of them compared to four that he had the day before.

"Good thing I wrote them," he mumbled to himself after flipping through the notes. Nothing more was said for some time as Mushroom Hill became extremely quiet, but it did not feel very pleasant. Instead, there was an ominous vibe in it, and it started to make Alexander very uncomfortable.

"Is it me or does it sound a bit too quiet?" wondered the human.

The red gem observed the silence. **"I'm not sure, to be exact."**

**"****You got me there, Alex,"** the cyan Chaos Emerald replied.

"Well, it's just that I hunch that there's something coming," admitted Alexander. With a shiver, he added, "And it doesn't look good, either." His hunch was right…

_**CRASH!**_

…Because the ground violently shook when something crashed onto the ground.

"Me and my big mouth," grumbled Alexander as his right hand became a fist.

**"****Save you mouth for later,"** argued the red Chaos Emerald and peaked through the bushes. On her left, she saw Egg-Drill facing away, but it was looking back and forth to find the culprit, **"Right now, we have to escape."**

"Good idea," said Alexander. Then, after feeling the ground rumble underneath himself, he questioned to himself, "But how can we with these mushrooms crowding almost all space around us?"

After sneaking back in, the red gemstone flew silently towards the child. **"It's unlikely we can use Chaos Control, either," **she replied solemnly. **"Almost all of Eggman's robots can sense Chaos Energy, and I'm more than certain this robot can, too."**

"Darn," muttered Alexander and stomped lightly on the ground with his right foot. "It looks like we must wait until the robot passes by."

With that, they kept quiet as the earth-shaking robot stomped towards them. The machine was slow and it plodded a lot, but each shake was very violent because of its force.

"_Roquefort's not gonna be happy once he sees that his territory was disturbed,"_ thought Alexander as the Egg-Drill waddled closer to their location. _"But now, I must care less about the landscape and find a way to get outta here in one piece."_

The moment the Egg-Drill arrived at the area where Alexander was at, it stopped and turned its head, looking for the Chaos Emeralds.

Alexander could see its head as well as its mechanical eye, but it was very faint courtesy of the mushrooms' stalks that semi-blocked his view. Nevertheless, he could detect it; the strange whirring from the Egg-Drill's head gave him this hunch.

The child hid between the mushrooms, waiting for its predator to leave the premises. Alexander had a feeling that he was going to wait for some time, but as long as he would get out of Mushroom Hill in one piece, it would all be worth it.

His wait was long, about _fifteen_ minutes long, to be exact, but it was worth it. Soon after, he heard a deep voice wobble through a radio, _"It's not in this area, Egg-Drill. Let's keep moving."_ And the robot walked away towards the creek.

Alexander sighed, feeling relieved. "That was close. I guess this robot was one of the few that's not sensitive to Chaos Energy."

**"****Maybe so,"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald.

Unfortunately, they did not know that they were soon going to be caught in Eggman's trap.

_**THWACK!**_

"GAH!" shouted Alexander as a mysterious robot clipped the back of Alexander's head, causing him to throw himself out from hiding and crash on the path.

The Chaos Emerald cried out and floated to his side.

**"****Are you okay, Alexander?"** asked the red Emerald to Alexander, who was trying to get up from the ground.

"I'm fine," groaned Alexander to the gems, even though he was looking down. "You don't have to be that dramatic." Then, as he got into a crouch, he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand and said to himself, "What was that thing that hit me?"

"You're about to find out," echoed a deep voice sinisterly.

Alexander gasped, and the Chaos Emeralds immediately dropped to the ground at the sound.

The Halbery child observed the scenario. "I have a very bad feeling about this," he quivered and picked up the gems.

"You can say that again, _kid,"_ said the same voice from above.

The child gasped again and quickly got to his feet. He then looked above, and noticed Eggman floating in his hovercraft.

"Eggman. I should've known it was you," snarled Alexander.

"You seem to be very acknowledgeable to know me," observed Dr. Eggman with an evil smile and furrowed eyebrows. "I have a feeling that Sonic and the others have told you what I'm capable of."

"Hmph. You can say that," said Alexander, not taking his eyes off the mad scientist. "Either that or that I observe your _failure_ a few days ago."

Eggman's eyebrows quickly changed from being furrowed to where they looked like arches. If there was one thing that would push his buttons, it was recognition of battles that he lost. Still, he was able to keep his cool as his brows furrowed evilly again. "Hand them over to me," the Doctor ordered as he extended his right hand.

"Hmm?" puzzled Alexander.

"Hand the Chaos Emeralds over to me this instant," commanded Eggman.

Alexander looked at his outstretched arms, gazing at the dimly lit Chaos Emeralds. Then, he turned to Eggman again with a cross look on both his face and eyes. "Forget it."

"Hmm?"

"That's right," said Alexander. "I will NOT let you take the Chaos Emeralds for your misdeeds."

Eggman gasped at Alexander's rebuttal, but he was not going to back down. He was Dr. Eggman, after all. "Sorry, kid, but I'm not taking 'no' for an answer." After his statement, he brought his right hand towards him and snapped his thumb and middle fingers.

Alexander kept his focus on the Doctor, but he had a bad feeling about what he was doing and thought so.

"_He's up to something. I know it."_

And he was right…

_**BOOM!**_

The ground rumbled again. This time, it came from behind.

"What the—" exclaimed Alexander and turned his back towards the creek.

Eggman's plan went all according to plan. And with Alexander's left hand outstretched, it was the perfect capture.

_**SWIPE!**_

"Hey!" cried a startled Alexander as something fast zoomed by his left hand. He looked down and noticed that the Chaos Emerald was missing. He had a feeling what happened and looked up at Eggman. That was when he gasped at a small black robot on his left shoulder. The face was in the shape of a sphere, minus the long beak and white eye in the front. The body was in the shape of a small triangular pyramid, and it had rectangular wings with a jet on the back. The legs were minute and stumped, but its feet were flat and contained small jets on the soles.

Also, in its beak was something that had an aura, a _red_ aura, to be exact. It opened its beak, allowing the object to fall into Eggman's awaiting left hand. As it feel, Alexander came to realize one thing…

"The Chaos Emerald!" he exclaimed as the red gemstone fell into Eggman's grasp.

Dr. Eggman smiled and stroked the parrot-sized robot. "Remember one cardinal rule when preparing for an attack: never look away from the enemy. They can pull tricks up their sleeves."

"I should know that," said Alexander with a growl before looking up at the robot. "I have a sneaky suspicion it was that robot that forced me to your trap."

Eggman's grin widened. "You're much brighter than I thought," he answered. He then cackled loudly, chagrining Alexander greatly.

"_This guy doesn't know when to shut up,"_ he thought crossly.

Dr. Eggman's cackle was short as he fixated his gaze on Alexander again. "Now give me the other Chaos Emerald like a good little brat."

Alexander snarled at the Doctor, not taking his angry face off him. _"If I had the power, I would crush this guy and take the Chaos Emerald back!"_ he thought with resentment. Afterwards, he looked at his right hand, which was in front of his chest. _"And, I'm not about to give up the other Emerald, either, so he can forget about asking me."_ He closed his eyes. _"Looks like I have to take advantage of the 'deal' that I had to make with this Chaos Emerald here."_

The child's eyes quickly snapped open and glared at Eggman. "I like to see you try to steal it!" declared the teenager and tried to run past Eggman.

"Big mistake, kid!" replied Eggman and snapped his fingers again. The small bird robot quickly zoomed off his shoulder and dove at the child.

Its speed took advantage of the opportunity as it zoomed in front of Alexander, forcing him to stop his brief run.

"Damn it!" swore Alexander. He tried to run the other way, but when he did, the robot zoomed around him, boxing him in.

"_Great!"_ thought Alexander. _"Now, I got nowhere to go!"_

He was about to get into more trouble as one of the wings slit Alexander's right arm, causing it to bleed. It then flew pass the other arm, digging its sharp wing into Alexander's flesh.

He yelped because of the arm injuries he suffered from the robot, but the robot wasn't done. It zoomed by both upper-legs, cutting him open slightly.

"Ow!" yelped Alexander as he felt pain coming from his new wounds.

He was about to receive a little more punishment.

_**SWISH!**_

"_Ow!"_ exclaimed Alexander as the sharp blade from the robot's wing dug into the left side of his jaw.

The machine then flew past his right cheek, but its wing merely scraped it, so it did not cause sudden pain.

But there was more to come…

_**SWISH!**_

"_Ahh!_" cried Alexander as Vamparrot's right wing blade sliced into his injured upper-left arm, causing him to bleed a little more than the other injuries that it caused.

More injuries were subsequently given as the blades dug into Alexander's left shoulder before inflicting cuts on the other shoulder.

The abuse was starting to take a toll on Alexander as his legs became wobbly, but he still had enough strength to stay on his feet as he kept glaring menacingly at the Doctor and the robot (who was hovering on the right side of the hovercraft).

"I usually don't like to do something like this," said Eggman casually, "but when someone tries to defy me, I inflict some punishment." He then looked at Alexander with a dangerous glimmer in his glasses. "Now give me the Emerald or you'll suffer even bigger consequences."

Panting and groaning from the pain, Alexander's focused completely at Eggman, hatred etched on his face. "Drop dead."

Eggman snarled at the phrase. "Alright! YOU ASKED FOR IT!" he roared angrily. "Now, you'll know what it's like when you cross the Doctor!" He turned to the robot, who floated on his left. "Vamparrot, make him suffer and take the Chaos Emerald in the process!"

Once the order was issued, Vamparrot, Eggman's bird-like robot, nosedived towards Alexander, and it was about three-quarters on the way when a blue light zoomed under the hovercraft and crashed into the robot.

Because of the ball of light crashing into it, Vamparrot's body was severely dented and battered, and it crashed into the ground in a crumpled heap.

"What?" shouted Eggman after seeing the blur.

Once Eggman exclaimed out of surprise, the blue blur dissolved in front of Alexander. And in its place was Sonic, who locked his eyes upon the Doctor.

"Are you okay, Alexander?" asked Sonic while in his fighting stance.

"I'll live," replied Alexander with a groan. "But Eggman's got a Chaos Emerald."

"And it'll be one that I intend to keep!" finished Eggman as he flashed the red Chaos Emerald in his left hand.

"Not if I can help it!" declared Knuckles's voice as jumped off a red-capped mushroom and onto the ground next to Sonic.

"Long time no see, Knuckles," said Sonic jokingly and winked at him with his left eye. "I was wondering when you would show up."

But his joke would be cut off when Eggman laughed sinisterly at their direction. "You may have your friends with you, but I still have the Emerald! Take a look!" He raised his hand into the air and pompously flashed the red gemstone again.

Knuckles gasped at the sight. "The Chaos Emerald!" he shouted.

"Correct, Knucklehead," laughed Eggman and put the Emerald in a compartment in the front of his cruiser. "Now, I think it's time that I leave the area; my job here is done!" He then did a military salute. "Until next time, fools!" He snapped his fingers with his right hand and flew off towards the plateau.

"Shoot!" muttered Alexander. "He got away!" And he punched the ground with his left hand.

"Ow!" he winced as the punch injured his hand. _"Great going, Alexander. You injured yourself even more."_

"Hey, Sonic!" shouted a female voice coming from the creek.

The trio looked up and turned towards the river. Running towards them was Amy, carrying her Piko-Piko Hammer; Tails followed her by flying with his two tails.

"What happened here?" asked Tails after landing on the ground.

"Eggman stole one of the Chaos Emeralds we had," replied Sonic, his arms crossed. "He got away a little after we arrived."

"Darn!" grumbled Amy and let the head of her mallet fall onto the ground. "But the good thing is we have the other."

Knuckles looked down and saw the cyan Chaos Emerald in Alexander's right hand. "It's better than not having any," he said. Then, he looked up at Alexander with a cross look. "You and I will have a long talk later," he said sternly.

Alexander sighed sadly at Knuckles's scold; he wished that he could trust him. But receiving a lecture was better than receiving more punishment from Dr. Eggman.

"I understand," replied the child, and Knuckles walked toward the nearest crater caused by the Egg-Drill.

"Are you okay, Alexander?" asked Amy when she walked towards him. "You look battered."

Alexander tried to create a fist with his left hand, but he winced when he did. "Other than a robot cutting me open in several places, I'm fine."

"Good," smiled Amy and ruffled his hair with her hand. "I'll treat your wounds when we get back to Hidden Palace."

Alexander nodded as they started walking towards the plateau.

Then came trouble…

_**CRASH!**_

…The ground shook violently, causing the group to nearly fall on the ground.

"What's going on?" shouted Alexander.

He quickly received his answer as the Egg-Drill shot up from the ground – around the area Eggman was hovering over – and landed in front of them. The drills from the top of its head and the end of its arms stopped spinning once it crashed onto the dirt.

"I think we got our answer!" replied Amy as she raised her mallet and got into her fighting stance.

Once she said that, several robots zoomed around the trio, making several whooshing sounds.

"And I think backup has arrived," said Sonic while wavering his eyes at the blurry robots.

The robots spun around the trio for several seconds when they stopped in front of the creak. The 100 robots all looked like the Vamparrot robot that Alexander encountered moments ago (in both design and color metal), but they were smaller than the original one.

"Yeah, lots of backup," added Alexander with panic in his voice.

Nothing more was said and heard for several moments. The Vamparrots all floated in the air, glaring menacingly at the group with their white eyes. The Egg-Drill stood still as a statue, its tall, wide body and arms blocking everybody from turning to the creek.

It remained quiet until static came from a small radio that was attached above the laser of Egg-Drill's chest.

"What's going on with the robot?" wondered Alexander.

"Don't know, Alexander," answered Sonic. "But I have a sneaky suspicion to what it's about."

Sonic's hunch proved to be correct.

"_Greetings again, my little warthog,"_ said Eggman's voice from the radio.

All four Mobians growled at the voice.

"You planned this, didn't you?" sneered Knuckles while in his fighting stance.

"_And if I did?"_ said Eggman mockingly and snickered. _"You all thought that I was actually finished with my job, did you? I'm surprised at your stupidity here. You should've been much smarter than that to detect my strategy."_ He chuckled evilly. _"Then again, I don't expect anything coming from you. HAAH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAHH!"_

"Very funny, Eggman!" growled Amy and gripped the handle of the hammer even tighter. "Then again, despite your weight, you were pretty light after I smashed your cruiser."

Everyone chuckled from her crass remark, but Eggman was very cross and his growl proved it.

"_Remind me to call yourself my next target the next time we ever meet eye to eye,"_ he huffed contemptuously. A cough soon followed. _"But now, I want that other Chaos Emerald that you now possess."_

Before Sonic could make any rebuttal, Eggman bribed him.

"_Look around you. My robots have boxed you in. My Egg-Drill can fire missiles and stalk you through the ground, and my Vamparrots can peck you and rip flesh like broken glass. Face it, Sonic. You're trapped, and there's nothing you can do about it. Give me the Chaos Emerald, and I _might_ spare your pathetic life. If you don't… then, I'll just say that you'll look like a jigsaw puzzle that will be impossible to be put together."_

Sonic, as usual, did not think much of it and responded right away. "Sorry, Doctor, but that's not gonna happen."

"And we'll make sure that won't happen," added Tails bravely.

**"****You better,"** said the cyan Chaos Emerald's voice through Alexander's head.

"_Agreed,"_ thought Alexander with a determined look on his face; he did not care much about the voice ringing through his head right now. The only thing that mattered was to keep the Chaos Emerald and get out of this battle alive.

A hum came from Eggman via the radio. _"Since you won't listen to my bargain, I might as well do what I have to do."_ And a snap of his fingers could be heard.

Suddenly, all the jets from the Vamparrot's wings ignited, as if it was ready for attack.

"Alexander, you better get out of here and find some shelter," commanded Sonic. "Leave the fighting to us."

"Gotcha," said Alexander and attempted to run past the Egg-Drill.

The Egg-Drill turned its head to Alexander and raised its big right arm as if it was going to fire.

_**CLANG!**_

"Not so fast, tin can!" shouted Amy after crashing the head of her mallet at its stumpy right leg. "You'll have to get through us first!"

The distraction was long enough as Alexander sidestepped the Egg-Drill and was several yards ahead of the robots once the chaos briefly subsided.

It would soon start up again as the miniature Vamparrots zoomed by the Mobians and darted after Alexander.

"Oh no!" cried Sonic and tried to run, but Egg-Drill's long right arm plowed itself into the ground, blocking him.

"_You'll have to do more than that to trick me, fools,"_ said Eggman casually. _"Attack them, Egg-Drill!"_

"_Acknowledged,"_ replied the robot in a monotonous male voice and lifted its arm off the dirt. The end of the arm then changed from three drills to six gun barrels.

"I got a bad feeling about this," said Tails with some fear.

And he was right, for rounds of small bullets shot from the barrels and at the group.

The Mobians reacted quickly and were able to dodge the bullets without a scratch.

"You think that oversized refrigerator can beat us?" shouted Sonic, then dodged another round of bullets from the Egg-Drill's right arm.

"You'll have to do better than that!" replied Sonic and jumped into the air, curling himself up into a ball. He then aimed at the body, trying to do some damage.

_**CLANG!**_

It did not work as he bounced off him and landed on the ground, but not without rubbing his head.

"This robot has pretty tough armor," he muttered, temporarily feeling a little woozy.

"_Very observant of you, Sonic,"_ replied Eggman via the radio. _"I built him with several layers of steel, so he can't get penetrated that easily."_

"Not if I can help it!" called Knuckles and jumped at the robot. "Take this!" he shouted and threw a punch at its face.

_**GONG!**_

Knuckles's right fist did no damage as it reverberated off the robot.

The echidna growled, "Why you…" and tried to punch it again.

_**GONG!**_

It did not work. So, he tried it again…

_**GONG!**_

…And again…

_**GONG!**_

…And again…

_**GONG!**_

…And again!

_**GONG!**_

None of his punches did any damage to its structure.

Knuckles's eyes looked like dinner plates after trying to penetrate it. "How's this robot capable of surviving such punishment?" he thought aloud.

The Egg-Drill finally had enough as the laser in its chest fired a red beam at Knuckles, and it crashed into his abdomen.

"Aggh!" he cried out as it threw him off the robot and onto the ground.

"Are you alright, Knuckles?" asked Amy as she went to his side.

"I'm all right," replied Knuckles as he got to his feet, although his abdomen was a little cramped up.

"_Face it, this robot is indestructible,"_ chortled Eggman through the radio.

"Oh, yeah!" challenged Amy and charged at the robot. "Not on my watch!" She then swung as hard as she could at the robot's right leg again.

_**CLANG!**_

But it only created a gong, and the shockwaves from the swing stung Amy's hand.

"Ouch!" she wailed and twitched her left hand. Unfortunately, she took her eyes off the enemy as the Egg-Drill punted Amy off the ground with its arm.

"_AAAHHH!"_ she screamed as she was flung into the air. She then hit the ground in a heap.

"Amy!" cried Sonic and ran to her side.

"I'm fine," Amy replied before turning to the Egg-Drill. "But this Egg-Drill needs a serious trip to the junk yard."

"I agree," said Knuckles and looked up at the Egg-Drill with a growl. "A serious trip."

"_Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-HA!"_ laughed Eggman evilly. _"It seems like you're having a tough time with my robot. Well, there's more to him than just drilling and shooting things."_

The four Mobians looked at each other confusingly.

"What does he mean by that?" asked Amy.

"_You're about to find out,"_ replied Eggman and cleared his throat. _"Attention, Egg-Drill, I want you to squash them like a bug! And don't forget to use your ammunition in the process."_

"_Acknowledged,"_ responded the robot monotonously. Afterwards, jets from the soles of Egg-Drill's feet ignited and it floated in reverse towards the plateau.

"What's that robot doing?" wondered Amy.

"I'm not sure," replied Tails while looking at the robot. "But it doesn't look good."

The two-tailed fox was right; the robot's jets stopped igniting and it crouched down towards the ground. Suddenly, it jumped high in the sky.

Everyone was confused what it was doing, but when they noticed that they were under its shadow, they reacted.

"Definitely not good!" exclaimed Knuckles and jumped out of the Egg-Drill's shadow towards the creek. "Get out of the Egg-Drill's shadow. It'll crush you!"

Knuckles's instinct was correct, for the Egg-Drill stopped hanging in the air and was about to land right on top of them!

"HEADS UP!" shouted Tails as the others all split up and rolled out of the shadow.

They got out of the way just in time…

_**BOOM!**_

…For it crashed onto the ground with such force, a huge and deep crater was created.

"Damn this robot!" cursed Knuckles after seeing it crash to the ground.

"_Ho-ho-ho-ho-ho-HO! You liked what my robot did, eh?"_ laughed Eggman with minute sarcasm. _"Then, I'll just let my friend have some fun while it's at it!"_

"You forgot about one thing!" called Amy.

The robot turned its head and noticed that Amy was running towards the plateau.

Eggman had a feeling what she was talking about and was not about to let her slip away that easily. _"Egg-Drill, don't let her escape!"_ he ordered through the radio.

"_Acknowledged,"_ replied the robot and leapt into the air again.

Amy tried to run as fast as she could toward the plateau, but the robot beat her to it as it crashed to the ground, blocking her and creating another crater.

"Shoot!" grumbled Amy out of reaction. "But I still won't this robot stop me!" And she took another swing at the robot's leg.

_**CLANG!**_

…No such luck as the mallet reverberated off the steel.

"Ow!" wailed Amy as she twitched her hand again. But this time, she kept her sight on the robot as she ran back to the others. "How can we beat this tin can?" she asked them while keeping a tight grip on her mallet.

"I'm not sure," said Sonic, "but we can't give up yet!"

"If I only made more Power Rings," said Tails with a glare towards the robot, "then we could beat him."

"Then, we'll have to think of a diversion," replied Amy.

Eggman laughed loudly through the Egg-Drill's radio. _"Try as you might, but you won't win. And I'll make sure that happens!"_ And he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, the gun barrels retracted into the robot, and whirring could be heard from it.

"What's that robot doing now?" wondered Amy while keeping her glare at the Egg-Drill.

"_You'll find out soon enough, my friend,"_ chortled Eggman and snapped his fingers again.

This time, the drills from the robot's _other_ arm retracted and whirring could be heard from within it, too.

The whirring lasted for a few moments when both arms suddenly aimed at the Mobians.

"_Remember about what I said about the Egg-Drill's ammunition?"_ cackled Eggman and snapped his fingers again.

That was when the whirring stopped and at the ends of each arm was three torpedo barrels.

"_FIRE AWAY!"_ shouted Eggman.

Suddenly, small torpedoes exited the barrels and aimed at the Mobians, but they took cover by jumping into the deep crater that the Egg-Drill created earlier.

"_I got you now!"_ shouted Eggman through the radio and laughed sinisterly.

The torpedoes flailed wildly as they crashed into various areas of the path and the creek nearby, exploding on impact. The explosions caused a bunch of craters as well as messing up the beautiful scenery. They were also responsible for inflicting damage on several mushrooms as nectar spilled from broken pieces of bark and onto the soil.

While Amy and Tails sunk into the ground for protection, Knuckles and Sonic growled contemptuously at the robot for the damage the torpedoes caused.

"I've had enough of this fight!" exclaimed Sonic through the chaos. He exited the crater and ran right towards the Egg-Drill.

"Sonic, get back here!" called Knuckles, but Sonic ignored him as he continued charging.

Once he was close enough, Sonic jumped into the air and spun at the Armor's chest plate.

_**CLANG!**_

…But his attack failed as he bounced off the robot and landed on the ground.

"_Well, well, well. So, you decided to get out of your little den, Sonic!"_ chortled Eggman through the radio. _"Now, it's time for some_ real _fun!"_ And he snapped his fingers again.

Suddenly, all the missiles that have yet to crash and explode nosedived at Sonic.

"Ah, shoot!" exclaimed Sonic as he started skipping in the ground, trying to dodge the missiles. He was hoping that they would either lose speed or explode in the air, but the missiles acted like they had a mind of their own. Wherever he went, the missiles swerved and continued to aim at the blue hedgehog, and he had to keep on sidestepping them to not get hit by them.

"This is _not_ my day!" muttered the blue hedgehog as he continued to dodge them. "It's like they have minds of their own!"

"_Correct, my little guinea pig,"_ replied Eggman joyfully over the radio. _"It doesn't matter where you go, my torpedoes will follow you until they either plow right into you or if you're close enough to where they can detonate themselves."_

At the sound of Eggman's admission, Sonic grinned. _"So, they'll detonate themselves when they're close to me, huh?"_ he thought deviously.

With that, he made a quick mental strategy, and he had a feeling that it was going to work. If not… he does not want to know.

With that, he stopped skipping when he was about 100 feet away from the Egg-Drill. "Yo! Torpedoes, try to catch me!" he taunted and flashed the bi-da gesture.

The torpedoes caught the voice and aimed right at Sonic, but he was quick to his feet as he jumped high into the air and dashed ahead, letting off his trademark blue light-trail.

Once he landed on the ground, he began running towards the Egg-Drill once again. This time, however, he was running slower to allow the torpedoes to keep up with him; but he kept a pace so they would not be close enough for them to detonate.

He kept running until he was about 25 feet from the Egg-Drill when he jumped and landed on the neck of the Egg-Drill. The robot turned its head to look at Sonic, only to see him smirking evilly. The hedgehog looked behind him then turned to the robot again.

"Bye!" Sonic said cheerfully and waved mockingly at it with his right hand. He then jumped high in the sky and landed about fifteen feet in front of the crater.

Once he touched down, he looked up at the robot, hoping to see if his plan worked.

It did…

_**BOOM!**_

The torpedoes collided with the robot and detonated on impact, and a ball of smoke and dirt billowed immediately after the explosion. Sonic loved every minute of it.

"Something tells me that Eggman's temper is blasting off right now," he grinned as he stared at the ball of billowing smoke, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Sonic!" called Tails as he and the others exited the crater and ran to him.

"Are you okay, Sonic?" asked Amy as she put the head of her mallet on the ground.

Sonic shrugged and said, "Nothing to it. C'mon. Let's find Alexander." And he plowed through the dust cloud and down the plateau.

"Wait for us!" called Tails and Amy and ran after him.

Meanwhile, Knuckles lagged behind to inspect the damage. Craters and damaged mushrooms filled the pathway. The nectar was soaking in the soil, and a few pieces of the Egg-Drill scattered all over the surface.

"I'm starting to get extremely tired of my island being vandalized," he muttered, annoyed. He then walked over towards the area where the robot once stood. The stumpy legs were all that remained of it, but the metal was crumpled and dented from the explosion.

"Stupid robots," grumbled Knuckles and kicked the left leg (or what was left of it), causing it to crash to the ground. He then huffed and ran after Tails and Amy, who were running up the plateau towards the Royal Mushrooms.

However, what the echidna and the others did not know was that from high in the sky, a small pod hovered above ground zero. It looked like a gray upside-down cone, and white propellers spun from the bottom. Moreover, a small black square hung from the cone's tip, and it had a lens on one of its faces.

From afar, Eggman – from his cockpit – had a miniature television in his cockpit, so he could watch the whole battle.

"Me and my big mouth," he grumbled and pressed the "off" button that lied on the countertop. "Well, despite being a prototype, he was very useful. Oh, well…" He then grabbed onto the steering wheel and spun around before flying further into the distance. That was when Eggman's wide grin returned. "But that prototype – and the battle – gave me another idea for a new experiment." A chuckle soon followed. "But first, I must find the other Emeralds as well as to wonder how my Vamparrots are doing with their chase." He said no more from then on, as he continued flying west towards his hideout.

* * *

While the Mobians were battling the Egg-Drill, Alexander ran as fast as he could as he tried to escape the Vamparrots that were in hot pursuit. He was able to exit the dirt path and arrive at the edge of the plateau. Then, he ran onto the grass, sidestepped any mushroom that were in his way, and skidded down the first hill. 

And during this short period of time, the Vamparrots – despite being a little slower than the bigger one – were able to keep pace.

"Stupid robots," he muttered frustratingly as the Vamparrots kept chase. He stopped at the bottom of the hill then went up the hill in front of him.

That was when the first Vamparrot took action as it nosedived at his direction.

**"****Look out on your right!"** shouted the cyan Chaos Emerald's voice from Alexander's head.

Alexander obeyed the Emerald's order and moved left, but the blade slightly scraped his right arm as the Vamparrot hit the grassy ground, smashing itself.

Alexander hissed as he got his skin cut open again. "These robots are making me sick!" He soon reached the top of the hill and continued running. Ahead of him was the family of Royal Mushrooms, the ones that Roquefort took pride in.

"I must not let the Vamparrots get near the Royal Mushrooms," he said to himself as he kept on running. He quickly turned left and ran as quickly as he could. Then, when he was sure that they were as far away as possible, he ran at the fungi's direction and bolted past them.

"_That should keep the mushrooms safe,"_ he thought to himself and sighed with relief.

But he was wrong; several Vamparrots zoomed right through the group, slightly cutting part of the stalks and releasing the nutritious nectar from inside.

"Damn it!" he roared as he noticed the damage on the trunks. "But, at least, they didn't cause much damage."

But the damage was about to inflict on him instead as they were able to catch up to him; they were all about three feet away from him and were closing in fast.

"These robots just keep on coming, don't they!" he exclaimed.

Suddenly, one of the robots from the edge of the pack started to nosedive at him.

**"****Move left, Alex!"** screamed the cyan Chaos Emerald.

Alexander did not have to be told twice as he maneuvered left, sidestepping it completely. But the robot's reaction was quick as it pulled up just before it hit the ground and proceeded to catch up.

"Shoot!" exclaimed Alexander. He wanted to use a harsher word, but held it in… for now.

The run remained quiet for a few more seconds, except Alexander's panting and the roaring of the Vamparrots' jets.

The chase also led Alexander into some foreign territory as several more red and yellow-capped mushrooms popped up within his path, but he did not led their sudden appearances stop him as he sidestepped every one of them. And he was happy to say that the Vamparrots did not damage them; the robots did not care about nature. They want to follow their objective and that was to capture the other Chaos Emerald. Then again, Eggman's robots lacked care for any form off nature to begin with.

All silence ended once Alexander arrived at another hill that was steep and went up.

_**SWISH!**_

"Argh!" yelped Alexander as his upper right arm was cut by one of Vamparrot's blades. The robot crashed onto the ground, destroying itself on impact.

Despite the sharp pain, Alexander ignored it and kept running uphill. He nearly slipped on the grass a couple of times, allowing the Vamparrots to dive at his arms.

"Wah!" cried Alexander and shifted himself to the right side, and the Vamparrot crashed into the ground.

But he had to act like he was dancing as he noticed another Vamparrot zoom at him.

Alexander reacted to the nosedive by moving left. The blade scraped his shirt, but not his skin; and the robot was history after it damaged itself on the ground.

Alexander cursed his footing and he ran up the hill again. This time, he ran a little quicker than usual.

"_I hated these robots earlier, but I now DETEST them!"_ he roared in thought as he continued scampering up the hill.

**"****You're not the only one who hates them,"** replied the cyan Chaos Emerald, his voice echoing in Alexander's head. **"I want to blast them for stealing my Emerald friend."**

"_Me, too,"_ agreed Alexander and grunted, but not out of pain. _"Do you think that I should do part of our deal?"_

**"****The deal?"** wondered the Chaos Emerald out of surprise. **"I'm surprised that you're talking about the deal, particularly in a chaotic situation like this. I thought you hate our bargain."**

"_Correction,"_ disagreed Alexander. _"I _still _loathe the deal. Besides, _you _still owe me for baiting me into this situation."_

The Emerald sighed with some satisfaction. **"The good ol' days,"** he joked. **"Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."**

Their brief argument made them forget that they were being chased by the Vamparrots, and the robots made sure they got their attention and then some…

_**CHOOM!**_

Alexander looked up, yelped out of surprise, and sidestepped towards his right, missing a white laser that aimed right at him.

**"****Forget about the deal,"** said the Emerald with panic, changing the subject. **"Right now, we have to get away from Eggman's robots!"**

Alexander obliged and ran harder, but his attention changed once he reached the top of the hill. The new section of Autumn Mushroom Hill was foreign to him. The grass was still orange, but each blade was only a half-inch long compared to the one-foot grass from the other end of the forest. The plains contained no mushrooms until about 1,000 feet ahead of him. The mushrooms in front of them were all yellow-capped with red dots on them, and they were very tall, about 20 to 30 feet in height.

Alexander ran a little more slowly and awed at the mushrooms in front of him, but the Emerald cut him off.

**"****Forget about the mushrooms!"** he said, this time, not by telepathy.** "Right not, we have to get away from the Vamparrots!"**

Alexander gasped and shook his head. "Gotcha!" And he burst towards the mushrooms.

The gemstone snapped him out of it just in time.

_**CHOOM!**_

Alexander saw the beam, cried out, and moved left, sidestepping the white laser again. He then took a brief look at the other Vamparrots and noticed more lasers that were fired at him. But he now knew where they came from: The lasers originated from their one eye above each of their beaks.

Suddenly, the closest Vamparrot (one that was about a half-feet behind him) fired his laser at him.

Alexander sidestepped it by skipping left… but he did not maneuver quickly enough.

"Argh!" grunted Alexander as the edge of the laser mildly singed his right wrist. "Now, they're trying to burn me to a crisp!" he muttered to himself.

More lasers quickly fired at him, and Alexander had zigzagged several times to not be burned by them. Unfortunately, he was starting to get very tired.

"If I can only get away from them," grumbled Alexander to himself, but he quickly had to shift right to prevent another laser from hitting him.

"Curses!" he muttered after circumventing the attack. Despite his fatigue, he continued to run as fast as could. Then, when he looked at the mushroom forest (a forest that was much closer than earlier), he saw a small opening in the middle. The path was a little narrower than the one towards the creek (about five feet wide), but it was big enough for him to enter.

"Perfect!" reacted Alexander with a small whoop. "This should give me some time to evade them!" And he ran harder and harder towards the entrance.

_**CHOOM!**_

A laser from one of the closer Vamparrots fired at Alexander, but he saw it and moved left, bypassing the attack. "Not this time, junk heads!" With a very small burst of speed, he disappeared into the dark, narrow pathway.

Once the Vamparrots arrived at the entrance, they noticed that Alexander had vanished and stopped flying. Several robots reacted to this by displaying high-pitched whirring, as if they were either panicking or feeling cross. Then, one Vamparrot from the back of the pack used a calm, deep mechanical noise to another one that was about five inches towards the entrance. It obliged and scanned for any traces of Chaos Energy.

While scanning, the eye that was used for its laser turned into a circular radar. Soft bleeps rang through the Vamparrot's mechanical brain, trying to find any source of Chaos Energy. Unfortunately, it was not able to detect it yet, so it kept scanning. Two more minutes passed by, and the Vamparrot had yet to detect any Chaos Energy. It whirred frustratingly from this, but it kept surveying nonetheless.

No such luck, however, as ten more minutes passed by with no detection for any Chaos Energy, and the other Vamparrots – as if they had minds of their own – grew very annoyed at the elongated search. And they showed it by either shaking with furry, charging of lasers, or whirring very loudly. It was like they were saying, "Find the stupid Chaos Emerald already!"

The Vamparrot that was scanning for any Chaos Energy whirred in reply and kept scanning. This time, it tried harder to find any magical energy. It did not matter where it was, the robot just wanted to find it and complete its object.

Suddenly…

_**BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!**_

Bingo! The Vamparrot found Chaos Energy! It was faint, but the robot detected it. It was found at the top of the radar, and it was zigzagging southwest.

The Vamparrot gave a soft whirr, as if it told them to follow, and raced into the forest. The other Vamparrots had a guess what it was about and zoomed after it.

* * *

Despite being dark, narrow, and spooky, Ebony Trail was also very peaceful. Chirping of birds echoed the territory, and the floor was covered in darkness. Tall yellow-capped mushrooms towered the forest's trail, and they stood diagonally, blocking the sunlight above. 

But the caps did not block the sunshine altogether. Some of the natural light escaped through various spaces between the fungi and hit the ground, exposing dirt that looked very sable and sooty. Small rocks embedded themselves in the moist, rich soil; and they glistened in the small gaps of sunlight. The light also exposed some foliage along the sides of Ebony Trail. Green triangular leaves sprouted from the bottom of the fungi's trunk, and the dew that coated the leaves shone in the sunlight. Finally, moss covered several of the mushrooms' roots, as if they were bathing in the richness of the soil.

Ebony Trail was known for its tranquility. Its serenity made it look so peaceful, even though it was dark there. However, the stillness within this environment was quickly disturbed by the sound of feet hitting the ground. It was faint at first, but it quickly got louder and louder.

Alexander rounded a curve and leapt over a mushroom that leaned left, then hit the ground, and ran some more. He slid down a small hill, crashed his feet into wet black soil, got up, and ran off again. He had been scurrying for some time now, and he was sure that he ran for several miles now. In addition, he started to feel more and more tired.

"I think I'm in for a break right now," panted Alexander. He wanted to stop running, but his mind told him not to.

**"****But what about the robots?"** asked the cyan Chaos Emerald, which was still in Alexander's right hand. **"They could be nearby."**

"Can you scan the territory for any robots, then?" suggested Alex. "Besides—" a loud pant escaped him as he stopped running and collapsed his legs to the ground, "—I need to rest for a few seconds."

The Chaos Emerald had a feeling that what Alexander was right about the moment's rest; after all, he was human and could feel fatigue while the gem itself could not. **"Okay, you win,"** he said, giving up. **"But I need you to let me go so I could scan properly."**

Alexander obliged and released the grip. The Emerald immediately zoomed a few feet away from him while remained afloat at eye-level.

**"****Scanning territory now,"** said the Emerald and his aura glowed very brightly. During the stage, the glow exposed some parts of the forest. The green leaves and moss glistened in the bright blue light, its dew reflecting it back at it. The stalks of the mushrooms were no longer within the shadows as they became highlighted, exposing their rich golden color.

The aura remained bright for about 30 seconds when it dimmed again and the Emerald floated toward Alexander. **"No detection of the robots in sight,"** he announced.

"Good," replied Alexander with a nod. "Now, I can get a bit of rest, as well as drink some of the mushroom's nectar." He lightly gripped the Chaos Emerald and let the aura shine on the black dirt. "If only I can find something to slice through the trunks."

**"****How about the saw leaves that are in front of you?"** suggested the Chaos Emerald.

Alexander directed the Emerald towards the ground and noticed a few green triangular leaves growing near a yellow-capped Autumn Mushroom. "Those are the saw leaves, I assume," he said and pointed at them with his empty hand.

**"****Correct. Those saw leaves can be used to cut things, hence the name of the plant."**

"I can use them for the mushroom, as well?"

**"****Correct. According to my calculations, even though the mushroom's stipe is flexible and strong, it's penetrable and can be easily broken with something sharp."**

"I see," Alex said and walked towards the saw leaves. What he saw gave him a little bit of fear. The edges of the leaves were as sharp as an edge of a razor, and it looked a lot like the edge of a knife.

"Well, here goes," gulped Alexander and reached out with his empty left hand. He grabbed the leaf and yanked it out of its limb.

"Got it," whispered Alexander with a grin. "Now, I'll get the nectar out from the trunk." He put the edge of the leaf on the stipe and began moving it up and down, as if he was sawing a log.

It turned out to be extremely easy to cut. The outer layer of the stalk was a bit difficult, but as he got a little bit deeper, it became much easier to cut. As he kept cutting into the humongous trunk, he felt liquid drip onto his hand.

"_I'm getting a little bit closer,"_ he thought jubilantly. _"I just need to cut a little bit more of the trunk."_ And he kept cutting into the trunk, and when he felt the nectar flow onto his hand, Alexander realized that he had cut enough and pulled his hand – and his leaf – out of the trunk. Pouring from the stalk was vibrant orange nectar, and it flowed to the ground like a water fountain.

"Perfect!" cheered Alexander in a whisper and put his left hand under the liquid. He cupped some of it into his hand and put the contents into his mouth. Immediately after swallowing the liquid, he felt energy returning into his body. Therefore, he put the Chaos Emerald onto the ground and cupped more of the liquid into his hands before putting it into his mouth. As he swallowed the contents, he regained more and more energy that he lost earlier. And he kept drinking until the opening closed itself, its trunk mending itself with the rest of the mushroom.

After it closed, Alexander grabbed the Chaos Emerald with his right hand and stood up. "I'm finished," he told the Chaos Emerald.

**"****Good timing,"** said the Emerald. **"Because I detected the Vamparrots' location while you were drinking: They're about one-and-a-half miles away from us and are closing in quickly."**

Alexander nodded and ran off again by running down the path and turning right on the corner. This time, he was more energetic and no longer tired.

The Chaos Emerald's prediction was right on target, because about five minutes after they left, the Vamparrots arrived at their location and zoomed after them.

Alexander slid down a small incline, letting the dirt roll down, before landing at the bottom. He then ran down the straight pathway and quickly leapt over another mushroom that leaned on its right before ducking one that tilted the other direction.

But he did not care about the obstacles now. He wanted to get of the forest as quickly as possible, even though he might lose more energy a lot more quickly than before.

"Any sign of the robots yet?" he asked the mystic jewel in his right hand.

**"****They're about half a mile behind us, Alexander,"** the Chaos Emerald answered.

"So we're able to keep ourselves away from them for the time being," enquired Alexander.

**"****For now,"** said the Emerald with emphasis. **"But the more you'll run, the more you'll fatigue, and the more ground Eggman's robots can gain."**

"I know," said Alexander and ducked another titled mushroom. "I know."

As he kept running, the cyan Chaos emerald was correct. Alexander did fatigue, and he was showing it as a little bit of sweat dripped down his face; but the robots also seemed to gain a boost of energy, for they were about 1,320 feet away from them and were getting closer and closer to them.

Alexander cursed after the cyan Chaos Emerald told him the news, but quickly wished he did so in thought. He then placed it in the back of is mind as he turned left, then right, and then left again, like he was traveling down a highway without the car to drive in.

As he rounded the corner, he started hearing their jets whirring. He knew they were closing in. "Why are they able to travel so fast?"

**"****I don't know,"** interrogated the Chaos Emerald. **"Only Eggman knows."**

"And I'm more than certain that he has no intention on telling us his secret, too," retorted Alexander.

**"****I wouldn't be surprised,"** finished the Chaos Emerald.

They would soon find themselves into trouble…

_**CHOOM!**_

A white laser zoom right by Alexander's left and it exploded once it hit the black soil ahead.

Alexander screamed out of reaction after the laser brushed past him. He looked and gasped in horror. The Vamparrots had already gained ground and were only ten feet behind him!

"The Vamparrots!" cried Alexander and veered right, missing another laser.

"I thought that they were about a quarter-mile away just a couple of minutes ago!" he exclaimed frantically.

_**CHOOM!**_

"Aaahhh!" screamed Alexander in fright and the Chaos Emerald as they barely dodged a laser that came from above.

"What the—" Alexander cut himself off when he noticed a Vamparrot flying above the mushrooms, and several more of the same robots followed it. He then looked down and noticed a few more flying through the thick areas of the forest.

"_CRAP!"_ he yelled out. "The Vamparrots must've taken shortcuts to get to me!"

**"****I would not be surprised!"** whimpered the Chaos Emerald.

_**CHOOM!**_

"Aaaahhhh!" screamed Alexander as another beam hit the ground, causing an explosion.

"_Stupid robots!"_ thought Alexander angrily, using the same phrase from not so long ago. _"If I had the power, I would FLATTEN 'em!"_

**"****As I said before, you're not alone,"** agreed the Chaos Emerald, his voice echoing in Alexander's head.

More and more lasers fired at Alexander, and he was able to get away from them, but barely. Then more rounds fired, and he was able to dodge them, too, although they were too close for comfort in Alexander's point of view. Because of his constant dodging (and the fact that he tried to run harder than he usually could), he started fatiguing quicker and quicker, and he knew it.

"I… don't know… how I can… last much longer…" panted Alexander as he ran harder and harder.

**"****You'll have to continue running, Alexander,"** said the Chaos Emerald solemnly. **"And I know you can do it… SO KEEP RUNNING!"** he finished with hysteria.

Alexander gasped and panted, "…Understood," as he kept running.

Unfortunately, his fatigue exposed itself extremely quickly as more and more sweat fell from his face and he panted increasingly. He felt like giving up; he could not take much more abuse nor run much longer.

Finally, he hit his first bump in the road when he turned left and ran ahead. A few feet in front of him, a heavy black rock sat in the middle of the path. Alexander did not see it and his left foot got caught on it.

"Aaaarrgh!" screamed Alexander as he tripped over it, crashed to the black dirt with a hard thud, and rolled over twice.

Alexander groaned loudly and used his left hand to clutch his side, which got injured by the tumble. But when he looked at his right hand, he noticed the Chaos Emerald was still in his hand. Alexander sighed happily and contently, knowing that he still had it in his grasp.

_**CHOOM!**_

Alexander screamed startlingly as a Vamparrot's laser brushed past his head and exploded in the soil a few feet away from him.

The Halbery child feared the worst and looked up. All the Vamparrots circled him like buzzards scavenging a carcass. Alexander was trapped.

"_Oh, no!"_ gasped Alexander in fear.

Then, a Vamparrot swooped down upon him and crashed into the soil, but not without sweeping his blade into the skin of Alexander's right arm.

Alexander winced as he started bleeding from his new cut.

The Vamparrots were not done as another one swooped down and met the ground, but not skin.

Alexander sighed in relief, but yelped again when a Vamparrot blade swooped and cut his left leg open.

The abuse continued for about a minute as the Vamparrot's blades opened up new wounds all over his body. And each wound was slightly deeper than the others. And the deeper the wound became, the louder the yelps and screams became. He tried to dodge them, but he was too fatigued to do so. His body had taken a toll and could not sustain anything anymore.

When the punishment died down, Alexander's body was covered with wounds. His cheeks and forehead was mildly scraped, but not bleeding, but the rest of the body was otherwise. His upper-right arm was covered with several scratches, and his left arm contained a few deep but superficial cuts. His entire left arm was covered with numerous slits, and his left hand had dried blood on it. His legs had several lacerations and rips in his pants. His lower-right leg had dried blood on it, while various areas of his left leg had small specks of the crimson liquid stained on it.

His eyes were closed and his breathing sounded harsh. He barely had any strength in him. His lower body and limbs were compared to dead weight; he could not move them at all. His head rested on the rich soil like a baby's head on a pillow. His eyes refused to snap up. The vitality was not in it. But his brain was still active, although it was thinking very negatively.

"_Maybe I should give up,"_ he thought. _"Maybe I should give the Chaos Emerald to Eggman's robots. Perhaps, my life can be spared, although it's unlikely."_ He inwardly sighed sadly. _"This pain is just too much for me to handle, and I can't stand it… Maybe I can just rest away and let them leave me for dead. That way, I won't have to experience any more abuse."_

**"****But you can't, Alexander,"** argued the Cyan Emerald's voice.

"_Why should I?"_

**"****Because it's not in your character,"** the Emerald argued. **"From what I saw in the few days I've seen you, you're very vibrant, and you never want to give up. Why do you think this is any different?"**

"_Because I feel like I'm dying?"_ asked Alexander dumbly.

The Emerald grumbled. **"This is serious, Alex,"** he said sternly. **"You know you have the heart to beat those robots. You just don't have the courage to do so."**

Alexander sighed inwardly and said nothing.

**"****You said that you wanted to dedicate something to your family,"** the Chaos Emerald continued, trying to bribe Alexander out of his negative thoughts. **"Why not this battle?"**

"_This… battle?"_ wondered Alexander confusingly.

**"****Exactly,"** replied the Chaos Emerald; the bribe seemed to be working. He just needed to make him gain the confidence as soon as possible.** "Dedicate the battle you're involved in to your family. I know that you have a desire to fight back. So, pluck up the courage and go deep into your heart."**

Alexander sighed again, but it was not as shallow as before. Then, he decided to relax for a couple of moments, trying to recollect his thoughts and think about what the Chaos Emerald said.

As for the Vamparrots, they were still circling him from above. Faint mechanical noises could be heard from several robots, as if they were communicating to one another. It was like there was a squabble between them, and if there was, another miscellaneous Vamparrot stopped it, bringing peace to the group. So, they discussed in their own mechanical language, telling each other what to do. The conversation ended and they decided to do what their objectives were supposed to be.

Once they stopped circling, they all looked down at the unconscious Alexander and charged their laser beams. One of the Vamparrots in the pack was ready to give off the signal, and once their brief charge completed, the robot made the signal and they fired at him. The beams closed in fast at Alexander's body. It was just about over, the last seconds were about to pass and never return. Then, just before the lasers reached their target, Alexander's eyes snapped up and put his right arm over him.

_**BOOM!**_

The ground exploded, unleashing a ball off gray and black smoke.

The Vamparrots all hovered there, seeing their prey fall into their hands. Now, it was time to pick up the Chaos Emerald and return to Eggman, letting him know that their job was completed.

However, someone had other ideas…

_**WHOOSH!**_

The ball of smoke dissipated in an instant, and in its place was Alexander, standing tall and standing proud. Although his wounds remained and his eyes were closed, his spirit and strength returned. His body was covered with a cyan aura, and the Chaos Emerald in his right hand illuminated very brightly.

The Vamparrots could not believe it. Alexander was unconscious and was just about dead. How was he supposed to regain life?

A Vamparrot from Alexander's left thought this was all a joke and zoomed at him, trying to catch him off-guard. Big mistake…

_**WHAM!**_

Alexander opened his eyes – ones filled with contempt and anger – and swiped the robot with his left arm. The robot stood no chance as it crashed into the ground nearby.

The robots looked at him with disbelief, especially since he destroyed one of their comrades with ease.

Another decided to try and catch the Halbery child off-guard and attempted to strike him from behind.

Alexander caught it and swatted it, causing the robot to crash into two more robots next to him. The three robots quickly became obsolete.

After the display, several Vamparrots could not take it any more of their own kind being destroyed and fired their lasers at him.

Alexander glared at them with serious contempt. "Feeble robots," he said with disdain (as well as in a deep, dark voice) as he extended his left hand and opened his left palm.

The laser bounced off the hand (and the aura) and directed it at many of the robots adjacent to him. The robots did not stand a chance as the lasers sliced them in half. He then turned the laser the other robots that were trying to burn them. Those robots stopped firing and whirred as if they panicked, but they were not shown any mercy as they were sliced in half. That was when he dropped his left hand… for a moment before swatting it into the dark areas of the forest on his right.

Once he took care of that robot, he looked above and saw the remaining twenty Vamparrots spinning above him.

Alexander shook his head. "Such a pathetic attempt," he muttered in his unusual dark tone.

The robots' lasers charged and fired at Alexander below, but that only made him smile.

"They just never learn their lesson, do they?" he murmured with a dark smile and made a swatting motion with his left arm. The laser beams dissolved and a violent gust of wind smashed into the robots, sending them flying into a mushroom stalk about fifteen feet away.

Once the chaos died down, the aura vanished, and Alexander stood on the ground, looking very tired. He did not stay on his feet for very long as he fell onto the ground and lost consciousness.

As the chain of events unfolded, a mysterious figure, who was watching the whole battle, disappeared into the shadows of Ebony Trail.

* * *

"Alexander?" wondered a voice. "Alexander, are you okay?" 

Alexander groaned loudly and opened his eyes, but he squinted the moment he did. The light felt very bright, like he was not used to it. He blinked a few times to regain his vision, and when he did, he tried to gasp, only ending up groaning out off pain.

"You look all beat up, Alexander," said the voice. Sitting by his left was Amy, and she looked very concerned, despite her motherly smile. "Stay lying down for a minute while I get the first-aid kit ready," she suggested and walked away.

Alexander did as what was requested and lied down again. When he became full aware of his surroundings, he realized that he was lying on the same old cloth from earlier, and he was draped with an opaque sheet from the neck down. Sighing in content, he let his arm collapse onto the ground. When he did, he realized that he was touching stone and rock, unlike the dirt at Ebony Trail. He was definitely not at Mushroom Hill, as what his instinct said.

Wondering where he was, he blinked and asked, "Where are we?"

"We're back at the Hidden Palace," Amy replied as she got back to Alexander's side, carrying a first-aid kit in her hand and a bucket of water over her shoulder.

"Hidden Palace…" Alexander let the words sink in. He looked to his left and noticed the big green Master Emerald right next to him. Then, he looked to his right and saw the evergreen trees as well as the bridge. So, Amy was right, he _was_ back at Hidden Palace, he thought. He sighed contently, but he quickly frowned. Something was not right, and he knew it, especially since the sky looked too golden for his tastes. "How long was I out?"

"About 17 hours," was Amy's answer.

Alexander attempted to gasp, but Amy cut him off.

"Shh!" she hissed, and Alexander obeyed. "Let me give you some more treatment to your wounds."

Because he started to become worked up, he forgot about his injuries. "Right," he said and let his body relax again.

Amy grabbed the cloth and rolled it down to a little above his navel. Although Alexander did not see it yet, several cuts varied all over his abdomen, from small to large, from shallow to deep.

Amy cringed at the cuts. "No offense, but you're pretty lucky to have survived this many lacerations."

Alexander did not understand what she was talking about. "What d'ya mean?"

"Take a look," replied Amy while having her back turned.

Alexander complied and sat up. When he looked down, he noticed his chest was exposed! "Eep!" he squeaked softly and tried to cover himself up with the cloth again.

Amy heard him and started laughing. "You now realize, don't ya?" she guffawed.

"You can say that again!" exclaimed Alexander lividly and covered his chest.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything silly," she said.

"I hope so," murmured Alexander and lied down again, sighing.

"Well, you'll have to live with it for the time being," said Amy sternly. "Your old clothes – including your jacket – are torn and stained with blood, and your other clothes contain irreparable holes and are worn out, so you won't be able to wear them anymore."

Alexander sighed at the sorrowful news, according to his mind. "So, what will I be wearing a little later on?"

"You'll find out later," finished Amy sternly, "but now, I have to tend to your injuries."

Alexander did not reply to her statement, except sighing mournfully.

After soaking something with water and putting a gel on the item, Amy turned to Alexander again. In her left hand was a damp washcloth with the same medical sap from two days earlier.

"I need you to sit up for this," said Amy.

Alexander obliged and sat up again.

"I need you to hold still and hold your breath; this might sting a little," warned Amy.

Alexander gulped. He realized what she was going to do. Sighing, he took a deep breath. When the washcloth touched his cuts, he wanted to yelp in pain, but he did all he could to resist the urge.

"You were wrong about one thing," said Alexander. "It stung… _a lot."_

"Can't help it, unfortunately," said Amy in a motherly tone and picked up a big roll of bandages that lied on the ground. "Let me put some bandages on you so the cuts absorb the medicine." She covered the abdomen and chest with the bandages, and Alexander aided her with the medical process by helping her wrap the bandage around him.

"How does your stomach feel?" she asked once she finished wrapping his chest and stomach.

"Very tingly with the medicine and water," shivered Alexander. "But it's better than getting _no_ treatment."

"Agreeable," said Amy with a chuckle. "Now, let me treat your other wounds…"

Alexander complied and let Amy attend to his other cuts. She first aided his left arm, then tended to his right arm. Both times, there was no problem, but when it was time to take care of the legs, Alexander blushed and refused to let her take care of them, but she was able to convince him that she was not going to do anything stray and he rolled up the sheet.

The legs were all covered with deep incisions, dry blood covering part of his ankles and upper legs. Several scratches and shallow cuts were on Alexander's right knee and his lower left leg. The sight caused both the human and the Mobian to squirm; this was not a comfortable sight for the two of them. Fortunately, everything quickly calmed down as Amy wiped off the blood with a wet rag before covering the wounds with both sap-covered washcloths and flexible bandages.

After a few minutes, Alexander was bandaged from chest to toe.

"All done," announced Amy.

"Finally," sighed Alexander and looked at the bandages. "I look a lot like a mummy."

Amy couldn't help but laugh at the joke. "Probably," she chuckled and picked up the remaining bandages and cloths that lied on the marbled surface. She wanted to add something else, but decided not to follow it up.

While she was putting everything in a neat pile, Alexander looked around by turning his head and noticed something missing. "Where are your friends, Amy?"

After putting her medical supplies in her secret compartment, Amy walked towards him and sat down. "Tails is repairing the Tornado 2, and Sonic and Knuckles are with Roquefort at Mushroom Hill—"

"So, you've met Roquefort," interrupted Alexander with a small grin.

Amy coughed. "Yes, we did," she said, but she was no longer so cheerful. "They're currently helping Roquefort clean up the damage and saw off the mushrooms that died in the battle."

Alexander sighed at the phrase "Dead mushrooms." He really hated parts of nature dying. "I have a feeling that Roquefort's very upset about this."

"Very upset," sighed Amy sadly, "but he was happy that the offspring and the Royal Mushrooms were not badly injured. I wouldn't be surprised that he would go suicidal if the most of the young get killed by Eggman's battles."

Alexander exhaled longingly. He did want to talk about that part of the conversation anymore. On the other hand, he was a little bit interested in the echidna's reaction to the battle.

"What about Knuckles? I bet he's also angry."

"Pretty much," replied Amy. "He has become extremely annoyed that Eggman's vandalizing his island."

"I'm not surprised," said Alexander matter-of-factly. "After all, Angel Island is his home, I assume."

Amy nodded. "Don't tell Knuckles you said that. He takes his home with a lot of honor."

"Sorry."

"It's okay," said Amy, and the subject ended…

…But not without Alexander making a quip. "I have a feeling that Knuckles still plans on talking to me a little later on."

"Yes, he does," said Amy, "but we convinced him to do so later. We don't think that you're ready to be interrogated yet."

"Don't be so sure, Amy," laughed Alexander. "He doesn't trust me yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if he actually attempted to banter me."

And the subject ended. This time, it ended for real.

Afterwards, things became quiet as Amy took off her gloves and dunked them in the bucket of water to wash them off, and Alexander looked at the brook below. There was no sign of the attacker anywhere. She was probably not interested in beating somebody up, Alexander thought.

Then, when he about to look at a naked tree on the right side of the path, Amy interrupted.

"I should go thank Roquefort for finding you at Ebony Trail yesterday," she mumbled.

Alexander, still sitting up, turned his head towards her. "Excuse me?" he wondered and scratched his head with his right hand.

"He saw you lying on the ground unconscious while walking in the forest and ran to us for help," said Amy as she squeezed the water out of her gloves. "If it wasn't for him, we might not've located you."

"So, Roquefort was watching me in the forest, huh?" thought Alexander aloud.

"Exactly," answered Amy straightforwardly and put on her gloves. "And when we found you, you looked like you got run over by several cars. You were in pretty bad shape."

Alexander grimaced. "I do not want to depict the scene," he muttered.

"Neither do I," agreed Amy.

The subject ended after that, but a new one quickly began.

"I will admit, that was very smart of you to tell us our location on the piece of paper. How did you do that?"

The color of Alexander's face almost drained. He forgot that the cyan and red Chaos Emerald aided him to write the messages for the Mobians. But he was able to quickly think of a cover-up. "I used a pen to write them down, and I ran out of ink afterwards."

"I understand," said Amy, although she looked doubtful. But she changed the subject… sort of.

"I want to ask you another question: Where did you find the parchment?"

Alexander told him about the parchment blowing against his legs.

Amy continued. "You see that stark tree by the river?"

Alexander looked at the naked tree and obliged.

"Well, I hate to surprise you, but those pieces of parchment belonged to me. Because of its rough texture, I planned on utilizing them as sandpaper so I could smooth out my hammer, as well as a few blocks of the shrine whenever Knuckles was not aware."

"I see," said Alexander, feeling a little glum after what Amy said. "Sorry about that. I should've asked you first before using them."

"It's okay. You didn't know," soothed Amy and patted his forehead. "Besides, I can always produce more."

And that made Alexander feel better. However, he had to ask one more thing, and it seemed a bit personal than the others.

"Say, Amy?"

Amy, who was looking at the summit of Angel Mountain, looked down after hearing him. "Yes, Alexander?"

The Halbery child shifted a little so he could be comfortable while sitting up. "What did Roquefort see while I being chased by the Vamparrots?"

That was when Amy told her what Roquefort said. First, she told him about the robots slicing his skin up and causing him to bleed. Secondly, she mentioned to him about the lasers that were about to hit him, causing an explosion. Finally, she told him about how he glowed a bright blue aura as he manhandled the Vamparrots.

"…Then he saw you lose consciousness and he went for help, and that's where we came in," finished Amy.

"I see," said Alexander and put his right hand under his chin, as if he was pondering about something. "But to tell you the truth, Amy, I don't remember anything about me glowing and destroying the robots. The last thing I remember about the fight was that the Vamparrots beat me up to where I lost strength and everything went black."

Amy played with one of the strands of hair with her right hand. "You remember nothing about it?"

Alexander hummed, "Mm-mm," while shaking his head.

Amy placed her left hand under her muzzle. "Interesting, because Roquefort witnessed the whole thing."

"No, I believe you," stuttered Alexander. "I just have no memory of it, that's all."

Amy hummed solemnly, but nodded. "I think you should tell Tails about this sooner or later. He knows a lot about Chaos Emeralds, so he may understand why you don't remember the end of the battle."

"I don't know," replied Alexander hesitantly. "Maybe, it's just a one-time event, and I'll be able to remember it the next time this happens."

"Maybe," said Amy. "It's your decision, not mine, and I respect that. But I _do_ want you to talk to Tails if this keeps reoccurring."

"I will," promised Alexander with a nod.

"Good," smiled Amy and ruffled his hair. "Now get some rest. Your body needs it." With that, she got to her feet, hoisted the bucket of water onto her right shoulder, and was about to walk down the stairs when Alexander asked something else.

"Amy, do you know where the Chaos Emerald is?"

Amy quickly replied, "It's in your travel bag," and walked down the stairs.

Once she was out of sight, Alexander looked behind him and grabbed the travel bag with his right hand. Once he unzipped it, the Chaos Emerald floated in midair.

**"****I heard everything that you said, Alexander,"** he said as the human put his bag aside. **"You remember nothing about what happened once the Vamparrots knocked you out?"**

Alexander shook his head.

**"****Do you remember our little telepathic talk between us a little after you got knocked out?"**

Alex shook his head again.

The Chaos Emerald titled downwards. **"Strange that you don't remember it, because I remember everything."**

"I'm not surprised that you do," murmured Alexander and covered his bandaged chest and legs with the sheet. He then sighed and lied down on the cloth. "Sorry about that. I'm just feeling flustered. How can everyone remember this and I can't?"

**"****I don't know, Alexander,"** said the Emerald. **"But I will figure this out."**

"I hope so," said Alexander and blinked. "And I like to apologize for something else, as well."

**"****What for?"** asked the Emerald.

"For not being able to retain the other Emerald."

**"****That's all right. You still have me, and there are five other Chaos Emeralds left. Plus, we can still get her back."**

"If we can, that is," added Alexander.

**"****Don't worry. We will,"** said the Chaos Emerald.

**"****But now,"** the gem said, changing the subject, **"I suggest you do what Amy said and get some rest. You've had a few rough days, and your body looks tired from all the exploring."**

Alexander nodded with a hum and the Chaos Emerald zoomed back into the bag.

The child smiled at the gem's actions as he sat up. He then grabbed the travel bag, zipped it up, and put it aside. Afterwards, he yawned, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.

* * *

_Did you like it? If you did, read and review to tell me your thoughts. No flames please, and I'll see you next time._


	4. Chasing for Escape

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Sonic the Hedgehog and all other canon characters are copyrighted and produced by both Sega and Archie comics. The plot is the only thing owned by me, and no profit is being made with this story.

* * *

_

**The Ultimate Adventure: The Mobius Saga**

**Chasing for Escape**

One week had passed since the battle at Mushroom Hill, and the peace and tranquility that was once housed on the island was slowly returning. There had been no attacks since the incident; possibly, Dr. Eggman was concocting another scheme to retrieve the Chaos Emerald—

"Not a chance," replied Sonic casually once Tails asked him about the possibility.

—The serenity was welcoming, since it was lost from the two battles that occurred three days apart.

Nevertheless, the battle upset Roquefort greatly for two reasons. One of them was that he did not like having robots trespassing Mushroom Hill, and it was usual, since he lived there. The other was a little more serious. After the incident, he became very depressed for a short amount of time: Although thousands of the Summer Mushrooms survived, about four-dozen of them died from the ambush. It was only the second time that the Mobian mosquito had to jettison any fungi from his home, and it made him just as uncomfortable as he the first time. Unfortunately, he never had to dispose of them in this magnitude; removing dozens of youthful mushrooms would surely upset anyone, especially him.

The day before Roquefort discarded the last of the dead mushrooms, Alexander invited himself over to help Roquefort remove the rotting fungi. He did so for two reasons. Firstly, he wanted to see how the dead mushrooms looked like (courtesy of Amy who involuntarily suggested that to him). Secondly, he felt sorry for the mosquito and wanted to console him.

Speaking of the Halbery child, his wounds had already healed, thanks to the medical sap; and he was no longer wearing the bandages that protected the wounds. Although he still carried his travel bag, it felt much lighter, now that his old clothes were ditched. As for his new attire, he now wore everything black. His long-sleeve shirt was black, as well as his new pants, socks, and sneakers.

The last dead mushroom was located within Ebony Trail, and this was where the setting began. There, Roquefort had sawed up the last dead mushroom he could find. The tool that was used had the same wooden edges like most traditional saws, but instead of a blade, hundreds – possibly thousands – of saw leaves that were dried, preserved, and glued together to form one sharp tool.

Once Roquefort put the saw away and walked onto the trail, Alexander asked him, "Ready to take it out now?"

Roquefort sighed sadly. "Yeah, let's go."

They bent down, picked up the stalk (Roquefort carried the top while Alexander held onto the bottom), and began walking slowly down the trail.

Alexander had to admit that helping with carrying a deceased mushroom made him nervous, as well as sad. It was like watching a casket being taken to the grave, then watching it being buried. It made him brokenhearted.

While walking, he looked down and noticed a small black rock that rested in the middle off the path. Seeing it made him cringe, as well as recall something. He had forgotten where exactly, but gazing at the rock made him remember. He knew he tripped over something, but he did not know what—

Yes, that was it! That rock was what caused him to fall to the ground. No wonder why he fell.

_"__Something tells me I'm going to have to be more aware of my surroundings quite soon,"_ he thought and gave the rock a side-glare.

**"****Like _that_ will happen,"** teased the cyan Chaos Emerald's voice in his head.

Alexander muttered crossly, only to hear the Emerald's laughter in response. The child shortly returned to mourning.

As they trekked melancholily, they arrived at an intersection that split two ways. One went right; the other went left.

Roquefort looked both ways, then turned right and followed down the path, Alexander trailing behind him.

The area Ebony Trail was like now was very spacious. Instead of it being five feet, the path was now twenty feet wide. The mushrooms towered above them, and the big yellow caps blocked most of the sunlight.

It seemed to fit the mournful environment, according to the Halbery child. He wished he could find some way to cheer Roquefort up and put it behind him. _"Poor Roquefort,"_ he thought sadly after looking at Roquefort.

Nothing more was said, thought, nor heard until they arrived at an area that Alexander never saw before. The black path had ended, and the ground expanded to where it looked like a circle that was 150 feet in diameter. The mushrooms encircled the end of the pathway, their tall structures towering above them.

In the middle of the circle stood a machine 45 feet tall. It looked square, but with a few contraptions. The squared part of the machine was 75 feet in both length and width, and ten feet in height. It was covered with heat-resistant metal, and a long black-metal door that reached from one end of the face to the other. Connected to the top was a gigantic smokestack. On the top portion of the contraption was a triangular base, followed by a chimney that protruded upward to about five feet above the caps. Just like the rectangular bottom, the base and smokestack were both made out of heat-resistant metal.

Roquefort turned right and was about one-quarter around when he put the top part of the dead Summer Mushroom down. Alexander saw what he did and put the bottom half on the ground, as well.

"We're here, Alexander," said Roquefort, a very morbid look on his face, and he walked toward the human.

Alexander did not notice it as he gazed at the machine. "What is this, Roquefort?" he asked while staring at the contraption.

Roquefort stopped after hearing the question and stood on Alexander's right. "This is a cremation furnace, Alexander," he replied monotonously. "All the dead mushrooms get disposed of in here."

Alexander gasped, but kept his focus on the furnace. "You cremate them in here?" he asked and pointed at it with his right hand.

Roquefort replied with both a hum and a nod, and he walked to the left of the circle. "I cut the mushroom into smaller size, place the pieces in the furnace, and wait for it to burn," he explained, his voice still without any emotion.

"I see," said Alexander and he stepped over the stalk and walked towards the mushrooms behind him on the right side of the trail. But he kept his focus on the cremation furnace as he did so. _"I'm pretty surprised that the deceased mushrooms get cremated,"_ he thought with a bit of a reiteration. _"I've heard about things like this, and I've heard that it's very hard to do something like this."_

What he said was right, because when he looked from the smokestack to the left of the furnace, he noticed Roquefort pushing a small stairwell. It had three small wooden steps, and they looked weathered. Moreover, the mosquito was shedding a tear from his left eye, which saddened the human more.

_"__So, Roquefort does consider his mushrooms his babies, after all,"_ he thought then looked up at the canopy of fungi above him. _"And it's like Mushroom Hill's becoming part of my home, too,"_ he added with a sad sigh.

As he looked up, thinking about Mushroom Hill and how the deaths took a toll on _him,_ Roquefort started the cremation process. After placing the small stepladder in front of the furnace door, the mosquito brandished his leaf-covered saw and cut the stipe into five equal pieces. Doing it was an easy process for him, for the shriveled trunk was hollow and easy to cut through, but it was still hard for him. He never ever enjoyed cutting them, especially since their lives were cut short by the _blasted Vamparrots!_

…Nevertheless, he had to do what he had to do, and that was to cut them down and burn them in his furnace, a furnace that he only had to use just once in his life prior to this week.

When he finished cutting the stalk into five equal pieces, he put the black cap onto the ground and cut it into quarters. Once he did that, he put the saw down on the ground, walked up the stepladder, and opened the door of the cremation machine. It looked sooty inside, as there were many leftover ashes on the bottom, apparently from the other mushrooms that were burned and removed during the week.

Once the door was opened, Roquefort walked down the stepladder, picked up two pieces of the stalk like they were logs for firewood, walked up the stepladder again, and put the two pieces deep into the furnace. He then walked back down and repeated the process by picking up two more sections of the stem before putting in the last piece. Afterwards, he carried one wedge of the cap, placed it into the back of the dark furnace, and did the same with the other two pieces.

After pushing the last piece of the cap into the furnace, Roquefort sighed sadly and wiped a loose tear that rolled down the left side of his pointy nose. _"Farewell, my baby,"_ he thought mournfully and closed the door. He finally walked down the stepladder, walked to the right side of the furnace, and pushed a button hidden within the structure. The crackling of fire could be heard from within the oven, and smoke puffed out from the smokestack above.

Alexander saw the smoke while looking up at the canopy of fungi and looked at Roquefort, who stood in front of him. He felt sorry for his newfound friend and wanted to comfort him. So, he pushed himself off the stem and walked toward his friend. When he was on the mosquito's right, he wrapped his left hand around the back of his neck and placed it on his left shoulder, as if he was giving him strength.

Roquefort made no response to Alexander's gesture. Not yet, at least.

* * *

"Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" asked Alexander as they were walking back towards the main plateau of the Summer Mushrooms. 

"Yeah, I'll be okay, so don't worry," responded Roquefort, his arms crossed over his chest. It was more of his usual chipper, casual tone, something Alexander found more suitable.

Alexander, nevertheless, was not so sure. The change of moods sounded so sudden. "You don't want to go through a time of mourning?"

"Mm-mm," replied Roquefort and shook his head with his eyes closed. "I mentally recover quickly, so don't worry."

_"__I hope so,"_ replied Alexander in thought. He was certain that Roquefort would not mentally recover _that_ fast. But he did not want to question it anymore, so he dropped the subject.

Instead, he looked up and put his hands into his pockets. "So…" he said, trying to think of a subject to use in a conversation, "do we have any plans on continuing our journey through Mushroom Hill?"

Roquefort's eyes seem to perk a little after hearing his quip. "I think I've forgotten about that," he replied and turned to his right.

Alexander looked down onto the ground and took his hands out of his pockets. "I wonder when our tour will resume," he thought aloud, trying to continue the conversation. Stilted or not, he wanted to talk about something; he was in no mood for silence.

"How about tomorrow, then?" wondered Roquefort.

Alexander shrugged. "I don't mind that," he said. "Is it okay if I come at around 10 o'clock tomorrow morning?"

Roquefort replied with a nod, and Alexander responded with a smile of his own.

Afterwards, nothing more was said as they kept walking through Ebony Trail.

Once they reached the open fields of the Summer Mushrooms and towards the Royal Mushrooms, Alexander asked Roquefort, "D'ya know where the path to the altar is?"

"Go to the Autumn Mushrooms, and turn a left once you arrive at Horseshoe Gate," advised Roquefort, pointing at the path to the Autumn Mushrooms with his right hand. "There should be a road that will lead you all the way there."

"Understood," said Alexander before asking him, "Could you meet me at Horseshoe Gate tomorrow?"

"Of course," smiled Roquefort.

Alexander nodded in reply, said "good-bye," and walked away.

* * *

Alexander would not talk again until he arrived at the creek that separated the Summer and Autumn sections. At least, he did not talk without any instigation from his counterpart. 

**"****Alexander,"** interrogated the Chaos Emerald as he zoomed out from inside the bag.

"Yes?" said Alexander and looked at the gemstone on his left.

**"****Instead of using Chaos Control, why do you plan to take the long route to Hidden Palace?"**

Alexander walked along the bank and started explaining just as he arrived at the stones. "Well, since there's a lot of sunshine left, I don't want to spend the rest of the day at the shrine," he replied as he walked to the stones. Then, as he walked over them and into the path, he added, "Plus, I don't want to face Knuckles right now."

The Chaos Emerald's light blue aura dimmed, signaling confusion to his friend. **"Why don't you want to face Knuckles right now?"** he asked before recalling the events from yesterday. **"I remember now. You stole me from him late last night," **he added with a bit of cunningness in his tone.

"Exactly," said Alexander, recalling the scene in his head. "And I have absolutely no intention to face his wrath right now." He then grimly added in thought, _"Although I will have to face it when I get back."_

The gemstone detected his thoughts. **"I'll have to agree with that,"** he replied teasingly.

Either ignoring his slyness or being oblivious to it, Alexander merely nodded in reply as they arrived at Horseshoe Gate. Unlike the Summer Mushroom plantation, the scenery at the Autumn fungi did not change. All the blue-capped mushrooms (whether they were dark or light) towered above, behind, and in front of him.

"The Autumn Mushrooms were lucky they didn't receive damage," said Alexander, "unlike the Summer ones," he added sadly.

"**Nevertheless, the forest was lucky enough to receive only minor damage,"** said the Chaos Emerald and glowed his aura strongly, telling him that he was done with the discussion.

"Point taken," said Alexander; he already had enough talking about any form of plantation that bought the farm. "Now, we need to find the other path."

He did not have to search for long; he turned left and noticed a path that was about ten feet wide. The Autumn Mushrooms towered above it, looking like skinny skyscrapers.

"Time to return home." Without another word, he walked down the new path, the Chaos Emerald floating beside him.

A crisp breeze wafted past Alexander as he slowly walked down the new stretch of land. It felt very serene; it looked very serene. Several of the mushrooms were about 30 to 45 feet tall, and every one of them swayed gently in the calm wind, as if they felt happy and relaxed.

"_And happy they are,"_ thought Alexander and sighed gaily while gazing at the Autumn Mushrooms.

The Chaos Emerald tracked his thoughts, but left them alone.

A few minutes later, he found himself on a stone bridge. The pathway was made up of stone and weeds, and the barricades were built from the same material. The brook – which was a mere fifteen feet below – floated and glistened in the sunlight. Ahead was another dirt road, connecting both sides with the bridge, and there were rows of tall pine trees. They looked like the ones he saw at the Hidden Palace.

"**Shall we go now?"** asked the Chaos Emerald; Alexander only stopped for a half-minute, and the gemstone was feeling impatient already!

Alexander looked at the Emerald. "Right," he responded and walked across the bridge and into the pine forest.

The evergreen forest looked and felt just as tranquil as Mushroom Hill. If not, it felt a little _more_ tranquil. The only difference was the color of the plantation. Instead of it being dirty copper or golden, the trunk was brown and rough. The needle leaves were emerald green, compared to the colored caps the mushrooms had, and they sparkled in the sunlight. Finally, the road split the forest, and the brook floated nearby.

"Very nice area," said Alexander to himself as he walked down the path and looked at the trees at the same time. Beauty seemed to attract itself whenever he wandered into wildlife.

"**Angel Island's has a lot of nature,"** said the Chaos Emerald from Alexander's right. **"You won't find any factories here."**

"Thank heavens," said Alexander before gave the gemstone a curious look. "Wait a second. How d'ya know about factories?"

"**Two reasons,"** said the Chaos Emerald matter-of-factly, but with a concealed teasing manner. Explaining things to the curious teenager seemed like so much fun. **"One: Dr. Eggman accustoms to machines like factories. He always craves for them; he always wants to make a robot before the day dies out. Two: I entered your world and scanned it. There were a lot of things man-made, like skyscrapers, trains, and stadiums."**

"_You're correct there,"_ thought Alexander and rolled his eyes.

"**Ahem!"**

"Sorry."

The conversation continued without any more interruptions.

"**Well, I should stand myself corrected, actually,"** interjected the Chaos Emerald. **"There's _another_ reason why I know about factories and many other pieces of machinery."**

"Hmm?" hummed Alexander curiously and placed his left index finger on his left cheek. "There is?"

"**Mm-hmm,"** responded the Emerald, and if he could smile teasingly, that was what he would be doing right now, **"but you'll have to wait for that. I don't want to explain at the moment."**

Alexander felt like sighing at the secretive behavior his mystic friend was giving him. He was tempted in asking him what it was, but it was unlikely he was going to receive any information about it.

"If you say so," the human shrugged and looked ahead once more. The summit of Angel Mountain was peaking out from the treetops. _"Looks like I'm heading the right way."_

"**And that would be correct,"** responded the Chaos Emerald, detecting Alexander's thoughts again.

The Halbery child inwardly groaned. "You really love to detect my thoughts, don't ya?"

"**What can I say?"** said the cyan gemstone with covert witticism. **"It's one of my favorite hobbies."**

"I can tell," said Alexander and rolled his eyes.

The Chaos Emerald merely chuckled as they kept on traveling.

The journey would become very quiet as they took their time along the path. An ocean breeze blew by occasionally, swaying the tops of the evergreen trees and (somewhat) blowing his bangs over his eyes. The environment felt very tranquil and very peaceful, something Alexander himself really enjoyed. It would not feel like home without it.

Neither the human nor the jewel would talk again until they were halfway from the altar.

"**Maybe, you should've used me to travel back, anyway,"** said the Chaos Emerald as he floated around Alexander's back and at his left.

"Probably," said Alexander as he looked up at the sky; it was still crystal blue, and it had yet to change. "But we'll wait it out a little longer."

"**I should've expected that,"** muttered the Chaos Emerald in an extremely low tone. He was starting to feel very impatient; he was anxious in finishing this exploration as quickly as possible. Finally, he sighed in defeat and said, **"All right, Alexander. We'll continue walking for a little bit longer, but not much longer. Fair enough?"**

Alexander groaned after hearing the gemstone's compromise. Leave this area of wildlife? That was insubordination! However, that did not mean he could come back, could he? "All right, we'll walk a little more and a little longer."

If the Emerald could smile, that was what he would be doing; instead, he glowed a little more brightly to showcase his mood.

They walked (or, in the Emerald's perspective, floated) down the path and turned left, where they noticed a huge pathway that went straight ahead and closer to Hidden Palace and Angel Mountain. But on the right side, there was a small pathway that cut into the pine forest. It was not that wide, but big enough for Alexander to walk in.

Speaking of Alexander, seeing the path was enticing to him, and his curious turquoise eyes proved it.

"**What is it, Alexander?"** asked the Chaos Emerald as he floated at Alex's right.

"There's something associated with this little path here," replied Alexander and pointed at it with his right hand.

"**So, it's a path,"** said the Emerald nonchalantly. **"There's nothing special there, I believe."**

"Your opinion, basically," Alexander replied, "but I'm not stopping now." And he ran down the side-path.

The Emerald wanted to call Alexander, but he held back; from his perspective, whenever he wanted to explore, there was no stopping him. Sighing frustratingly, the jewel entered the path and followed the teenager.

The pathway was not as wide as the main way back to the Hidden Palace. It was only about seven feet wide here, compared to thirty feet there. The pine trees towered above the ground, giving the impression that the trees were as tall as an average skyscraper. The dirt was dry and sandy, with specks of zinc glittering in the sunlight. And the green leaves spread out somewhat from above.

It was also very quiet, but not for long.

"**What are you doing, Alexander?"** seethed the Chaos Emerald in a low, impatient tone.

"Something about this path's making me curious," replied Alexander as he walked down a small hill.

"**Let me guess, you were craving for more adventure, right?"** the Chaos Emerald asked irritably.

"One of the reasons," replied Alexander with a gleam of eagerness in his eyes, "but there's something else, too."

If he could look at Alexander confusingly, that was precisely what the Chaos Emerald would give him. **"Something else?"**

"Mm-hmm," replied Alexander and looked at his floating comrade. "While approaching it, I smelled some kind of odor."

"**Smelled something?"** puzzled the Emerald.

Alexander nodded. "I'm not what it is, but it could be some form of perfume or something." With that, he looked ahead and continued to walk.

The Chaos Emerald followed right behind him, although he was confused by one thing.

"**_Smelled something? How can someone smell something?"_** he thought before sighing inwardly. **_"It must be a human thing, I suppose."_**

They both rounded a corner by turning left, and in front of them was a stairwell. The forty or so steps were made out of stone, the marble and zinc reflecting in the sunlight. Unfortunately, the steps looked very old, and it showed it – huge cracks were embedded in almost every one of them.

Alexander gulped at the sight. It was something that did not look so safe.

The Chaos Emerald noticed this as he floated alongside. **"Maybe, it's best that we should retreat to the main area right now,"** he said.

"Perhaps," said Alexander, "but I still want to go down there." He put his right hand on his chin and asked himself, "But how to do that?" He hummed softly as he thought of an idea. What to do?

Aha! He had the _perfect_ tool to do so— No. It would not be smart. The Emerald's power should only be tapped in wisely.

Oh, well. Maybe, he would go down there some other time.

"Let's go," said Alexander, and he proceeded to return to the entrance.

The Chaos Emerald followed him, his glow showing confusion. **"Strange for you to not continue traveling to an area in a forest,"** he said with some surprise. **"Why's that?"**

"I didn't feel it's safe," was Alexander's straightforward reply.

"**Good reason,"** said the Chaos Emerald. **"One false step, and you'll tumble."**

"You can say that again," said Alexander, reminiscing the times where he acted extremely clumsy. However, he quickly sported a sneaky smile. "But that doesn't mean I can't do it some other time, can't I?"

The Chaos Emerald had to guess that and grumbled crossly at how foolish he was to overlook it. There was no way that Alexander would give up that quickly without any sort of reason. **"Thanks a lot, Alexander,"** he said exasperatedly.

"No problem," said Alexander, ignoring the jewel's tone.

Both of them would soon return to the main pathway, and they continued to stroll back towards Hidden Palace.

Coincidentally, neither of them wound up remembering to use Chaos Control to teleport them back to their destination.

* * *

The rest of the walk would be very quiet. Neither Alexander nor the Chaos Emerald spoke much, except a few mumbles now and then. All the while, Alexander continued to occasionally gaze at the scenery surrounding him and admiring it (something that was chagrining the Chaos Emerald to no end). 

About a mile from their destination, they came across an area that they both recognized. On the ground were small craters, none smaller than the size of an average baby human's foot. In addition, a few pieces of burnt and broken metal were scattered all over the ground.

Alexander sighed morbidly at the sight. Fighting was looking more and more disturbing each and every day, even though no one bled in this battle. Battles… he definitely remembered in the one he was involved in. Several days ago, those Vamparrots chased him all the way to Ebony Trail, where they cut him open in various places. It gave him chills thinking about it—

But how was he able to fight them off? How was he able to defeat them all single-handedly when he was sure he was going to die? Those Vamparrots had him. He was lying unconscious on the soft ground of that dark mushroom forest, and they were going to steal the other Chaos Emerald… but he was able to fight them off _somehow._ How did it make sense? Where was any logic to this scenario? He just had to find out, he just had to!

"**Alexander, are you okay?"**

The Halbery child snapped out of his thoughts after hearing the Chaos Emerald. He shook his head and turned to the gem (who floated on his right).

"Sorry, I was thinking about something," apologized the human.

"**Thinking about what?"** wondered the Chaos Emerald, his aura dim out of confusion. Apparently, he did not detect his thoughts this time around

Alexander guessed that, and was about to tell him when the gemstone zoomed into his right hand.

"What is it?" Alexander asked.

He soon found out.

"HEY, ALEX!"

Alexander looked up and noticed Sonic walking toward him, and the Halbery child quickly responded by placing the gemstone back in the bag.

"Hi, Sonic," he said as the hedgehog arrived. "What are you doing here?"

"Getting rid of some the scrap metal that's still in this area," replied Sonic mournfully. Over his right shoulder was a shovel that had a wooden handle, and he was holding a metal bucket with the other.

"I have a guess that you don't like your job, huh?" said Alexander when he noticed Sonic's disappointed expression.

"You kiddin'?" exclaimed Sonic. "I _HATE_ jobs like these!" Afterwards, he sighed and went into his usual calm manor. "Well, I better clean up right now."

"'Kay. See ya!" Alexander waved him "good-bye" with his right hand, walked passed Sonic, and headed towards the altar.

Once Alexander was out of earshot, Sonic took out his shovel and began to clean up, grumbling about why he had to do this chore in the first place!

* * *

It would be another ten minutes before Alexander arrived at the altar. He rounded the corner, walked over the bridge (but not without glaring at the sea-creature that was napping in the water), and he walked closer to the shrine. It felt great being back at the Hidden Palace once again. He had just walked several miles just to get here. Sure, he did that just to kill some time (as well as look at the scenery), but it was still a very long walk. And it was bound to feel tiring once it was all over. 

As he reached the first step of the shrine, he noticed a very familiar Mobian up at the top, and it caused him to groan.

Knuckles the Echidna was looking down at Alexander, his arms were crossed in front of his chest, and his glaring aiming the human below; it was like a signal that said, "Get near the Master Emerald, and you will regret it."

Whatever his punishment might be if he got near, he did not want to know, so he sat on the first step, turned away from Knuckles (although he side-glanced the stubborn echidna now and then), and looked up at the sky above.

As for Knuckles, he was still looking in front of him with determined purple eyes. His dark irises looked ferocious, ones that could mentally penetrate the exterior of someone. Yet, they were filled with some worry. No, he was not worried about Alexander or him questioning not trusting him (if he did trust people he did not recognize, it would not be him). It was something else. The relentless attacks by Dr. Eggman had seemed to make Angel Island feel unsafe. With the Chaos Emerald in their grasp and the Master Emerald behind him, there was a hunch that the mad scientist could be after them. It looked like he was going to have to think about things a little later on.

Afterwards, everything became still both mentally and verbally, and later on, Sonic returned to the shrine, looking both cross and dirty.

"Let me guess, you're still steamed that you had to clean the road?" laughed Alexander.

"Don't ask," muttered Sonic and wiped the sweat off his blue fur with his tan left arm. "So, enjoying your time here?"

"A bit," replied Alexander and made a seesaw motion with his left hand. "So, when are Tails and Amy coming by?"

"They'll be back later this afternoon," replied Sonic. "Tails is still working on the Tornado. Apparently, it suffered more damage than previously thought."

"What kind of damage?" asked Alexander curiously.

"You got me," said Sonic with a shrug. "And if he did, I might be more confused than before. Machines are not really my ideal."

"I should say, since you're not used to fixing planes," teased a familiar boy's voice from above.

Both Sonic and Alexander looked up, and hovering above them was a smiling Tails, his right hand holding a wrench.

"How's the Tornado?" Sonic asked.

Tails slowly touched down on the ground and stood in front of the two. "The engine and upper-left wing need a little more repairing," he replied. "It's gonna be a few more days before the Tornado 2 can fly again."

"Bad luck," cringed Sonic.

"Tell me about it," sighed Tails and put his wrench away. He turned to Alexander and quipped, "I see that you're doing well."

"You can say that," said Alexander. "Just a long walk and helping Roquefort with disposing the dead mushrooms." The moment he said "mushrooms," he sighed sadly and looked down at the ground.

"You okay, kid?" wondered Sonic confusingly. "You're looking a little down."

Alexander quickly looked back up at them. "It's nothing," he fibbed and laughed nervously.

Both Sonic and Tails looked at each other, their expressions showing doubt, but they shrugged it off and walked to the top of the shrine, where they started talking to Knuckles.

Alexander did not turn to them as they walked past them. Instead, he remained focused at the sky above him as he started thinking.

He still felt a bit bitter after what happened at Mushroom Hill. He felt that the forest – let alone the _entire island_ – did not deserve to be involved to be demolished. Curse Eggman and his robots. Curse them! Still, what was done was done, and thankfully, the forests were not completely harmed. Maybe, he should just take his own advice about forests when they were a bit demolished instead of wallowing in anger. Yes, that ought to be the case.

Conversely, it made him more eager to return to Mushroom Hill tomorrow.

* * *

The forest very far away looked marvelous this evening. The sky had golden streaks along the horizon, with specks of orange, red, brown, and black from the horizon up. Tall evergreen trees stood proudly in the sky, the sun's golden light giving them an extra touch of majesty. And several nocturnal creatures (from insects to various species of cats, bears, and whatnot) roamed through the foliage, hunting and scavenging for any food they could find. 

It was a very quiet tonight. There were no sounds throughout the area. It would be a very fine place to live and explore, would it not?

"WHAAATTT!"

Um, that answer would be an emphatic "no."

Deep within the underground hideouts in the territory, Eggman was sitting in his computer chair, but he did not too happy: He balled his fists, his bald head turned dark red, and he shouted from the top of his lungs.

"My Vamparrots failed to get the Chaos Emerald?" he blurted out.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied Bokkun, who was sitting on Eggman's right. "They were all destroyed when that human child harnessed the Chaos Emerald and its power."

Eggman growled loudly from Bokkun's report. It made him so cross that he wanted to scream as loud as he could and ram him, Decoe, and Bocoe with the biggest "How-to-become-the-world's-best-mad-scientist" book he had on the shelf; but he sighed exasperatedly instead.

"What will he do next, Bokkun?" he asked.

"While hiding from view, I heard him talking to a mosquito named Roquefort that they were going to explore more of Mushroom Hill tomorrow," the android-like robot replied.

"Thanks for the report, Bokkun," said the Doctor. "You can return to your quarters now."

Bokkun obliged with a nod, floated to the big door, opened it by pressing his hand on a gray actuator, and zoomed away.

Once the door closed itself, Eggman turned to Decoe and Bocoe, who were standing behind him.

"Decoe, Bocoe, I will have to say that I am disappointed in you," he said severely. "You did not help me create a robot strong enough to take both Chaos Emeralds. You did not do your job, and I really don't like it when robots failed their objectives.

"However… you did help me nab _one_ of the Emeralds." He reached out with his left hand and took out the red Chaos that was in a pedestal. A huge toothy grin brandished his face, and a sinister glint twinkled on his blue glasses.

_"__So, you're NOT upset, Doctor?"_ asked Bocoe bewilderingly, who stood on Decoe's left.

"Not upset, only disappointed," replied Eggman solemnly while still looking at the Chaos Emerald.

"_Wait a second,"_ interrupted Decoe, causing Eggman to look over his left shoulder. _"You gave credit to us, but wasn't it _you_ who created the robots in the first place?"_

Eggman ignored him as he placed the gemstone back into its pedestal. Just as he did so…

_"Decoe, Bocoe!"_

Both robots were caught off-guard by Eggman's sudden yell and nearly fell down as a result. _"Yes, Doctor?"_ they asked hurriedly.

"Fetch me the cards from your quarters," he ordered. "I need a good versatile robot that can _crush_ Sonic, his friends, and that human." He balled his left fist tightly.

"_Right away, Eggman!"_ they replied, and they opened the huge door and left the room.

Five minutes later, they returned to the room carrying the plate and a huge deck of cards.

"Thanks," said Eggman and grabbed the cards with his right hand. "Hmm, let's see." He fanned the cards out and examined them. Which card should he choose? Which card was potent enough to stalk, conquer, and destroy?

"Aha!" he cried out and took out two cards from the middle of the deck. "These shall do the trick!"

The two robots looked over Eggman and gazed at the cards that he chose.

"_Those are really good cards you chose,"_ said Decoe and gazed at the designs. _"Something tells me they are going to be very useful."_

"That's why I designed them," said Eggman, his eyes still on the cards. "Once these are in action, Sonic and the others will be having a difficult time facing them."

The moment he was going to laugh, Bocoe interrupted.

"_But, Doctor…"_

"What is it, Bocoe?" Eggman turned to the robot over his left shoulder.

"_Why did you choose this one?"_ he asked and pointed at the top of the two cards with his right hand. _"He looks pretty useless, if you ask me."_

Eggman glowered at him. "Are you questioning my decisions?"

Bocoe nearly slipped on the floor. _"N-No, s-s-sir,"_ he stammered, grease falling down each side of his head.

"Good," said Eggman sternly; he really hated when he was questioned. When he returned his attention to the cards in his hand, his gray eyes from behind his glasses looked like they were on fire.

"When this war is over, not only will I collect the Chaos Emeralds…" he whispered with an evil smile—

_**BANG!**_

"_AHH!"_ the robots cried and fell down, courtesy of Eggman slamming the sides of his fists hard on the computer-top.

"—I WILL CONQUER THE WORLD, AS WELL! _HA_-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-_HA!"_

However, while he was laughing his head off, someone was listening to the conversation by pressing his or her right ear on the door. Chaos Emeralds, eh? They sounded like interesting artifacts, and from what he or she heard they were extremely precious. Hmm… It looked like it was time to pay Angel Island a little visit.

* * *

The rest of the day at Angel Island passed along without any incident. 

After everyone had returned to Hidden Palace, they all ate quietly. It was quite pleasant for all of them, for once. No robots and no Eggman invading the precious island and disturbing the peace and tranquility in this sacred land. In addition, no more cleaning up the forests and removing every piece of metal. It was about time that they caught a break.

Once nightfall occurred, everyone at the altar closed their eyes and went to sleep, dreaming contently because of the serenity that finally fell onto this island.

Everyone was indeed asleep, except one.

Knuckles stood at the top of the shrine, his eyes fixated on the ground below. He looked at the left-hand side and saw Sonic, Tails, and Amy sleeping near the stairs. Although he rarely did this, he held back a chuckle once he noticed Sonic muttering about wanting a twenty-foot chilidog.

"_Silly Sonic,"_ he thought light-heartedly. _"Whenever he wants a chilidog, run for the hills."_

Afterwards, he looked on the right side and saw Alexander sleeping on the grass, his travel bag being used as a pillow. Knuckles glowered with annoyance at the little human. He had been such a troublemaker, in his view. He not only nearly touched the Master Emerald a few days ago, but he also left the premises without his knowledge and subsequently became a magnet for trouble. Other than Sonic, he never really enjoyed having anyone who had been (or currently were) targets for Eggman or any other known antagonist.

"_This kid has been a really huge magnet for Eggman,"_ he thought. _"Wherever he goes, Eggman targets him. I'm surprised that he's actually still alive."_ His eyes relaxed, but they were still sharp within his exterior calmness._ "Nevertheless, I am still disappointed in him for knowingly walking out without any escort, and I'm certain that he'll do it again."_ A cross sigh followed._ "I'll have to talk to Sonic regarding that child's recklessness tomorrow morning."_

Afterwards, he looked away from the group and stared at the Master Emerald that was in its pedestal. _"I've really had it with Eggman and him attacking my island. If he even DARES to try to attack, I'm gonna give him a pounding he won't forget."_

Knuckles looked at the Master Emerald a little too soon, unfortunately.

* * *

Tired eyes opened, and Alexander let out a very loud yawn. The bright sunlight immediately hit his turquoise eyes, and he gasped as a result. Some repetitive blinks later, and he was able to see very clearly. The sky was bright blue, with no cloud in sight; and the sun shone brightly. 

He stretched to let the blood circulate through his body, sat up, and looked at the surroundings.

**"****Good morning, Alexander,"** said the Chaos Emerald, his voice ringing within Alexander's head.

The Halbery child grunted in annoyance. He did not need that voice echo in his brain now. _"Nice way to ruin a good morning,"_ he muttered crossly.

**"****You're upset to see little ol' me?"** taunted the Emerald.

Alexander groaned inwardly from the gemstone's snarky teasing. _"Very funny,"_ he thought, annoyed.

The jewel chuckled from Alexander's cross actions. **"Sorry, Alexander. I have a knack when it came to jumping from behind."**

"_You think?"_ said Alexander telepathically and rolled his eyes. When he looked up at the sky, he abruptly changed the subject and added aloud, "It looks like it's gonna be a great day today."

The human got to his feet, grabbed his travel bag, and looked at the stream in front of him. Freedom was down that direction, and he was a few feet away from exiting the shrine.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

The moment he walked towards the bridge, a masculine voice boomed at his direction. Alexander turned around and noticed Knuckles staring directly at him.

"I'm meeting Roquefort at Mushroom Hill, Knuckles," replied Alexander.

"Not without someone by your side," Knuckles answered back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Remember, I'm keeping a watch on you until that portal reopens. You'll be having a guardian with you until you meet up with Roquefort along the way."

Alexander sighed and grumbled, but did not argue. Whenever Knuckles made up his mind, there was nothing he could do to change his mind.

"All right, Knuckles. I'll take a guardian," he sighed begrudgingly. "So who will be going with me?"

"Sonic will go with you," said Knuckles straightforwardly, his arms still crossed over his chest, and he flashed his violet irises at the half-naked evergreen tree.

Alexander followed the echidna's gaze and looked at the tree, which was located at the left side of the path. The tree was almost bare, with only pine leaves locating at the sequoia's canopy.

Knuckles's gaze proved to be true, because Sonic was standing merely a foot or two away from the tree.

"I've already talked with him regarding this, and he has agreed to go with you until Roquefort picks you up," Knuckles said specifically. _"Although he tried to talk himself out of it,"_ he added in thought.

Alexander moaned from the echidna's reaction – so much for a good morning.

Sighing out of annoyance, he walked away from Knuckles and was soon at Sonic's right.

"Ready to go, kiddo?" asked the male hedgehog.

"I guess so," said Alexander.

Moments later, both Sonic and Alexander said "good-bye" to Knuckles (although Alexander did it hesitantly), and they walked away.

The moment they disappeared around the bend, Knuckles collapsed his arms and sighed, but he did not let go of his authoritative state.

"I hope that troublesome kid doesn't get into more trouble," he thought aloud and walked back to the shrine.

* * *

Several minutes passed, and nothing was said during their walk to Mushroom Hill. They had trekked out off the forest and have already passed by the area where Sonic himself, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy had battled Eggman and that humongous bomb. Afterwards, it was merely nothing except a quiet walk towards Mushroom Hill. Nothing excited around them, just tranquility and boredom (especially in Sonic's point of view; if it was possible, he would have _yawned_ his way to Mushroom Hill). 

"Sometimes, I wish there is a robot here—" muttered Sonic under his breath.

"Pardon me?" Alexander looked down at his right.

Sonic looked up at Alexander. "I'm just bored," he said. "There's no action around this island, and when there's no action, I get really bored." He yawned widely, but covered it with his right hand. "I'm really itching for action."

Alexander raised his right eyebrow. "What kind of action?"

"Well, either fighting one of Eggman's robots or running at high speed," said Sonic. "It really gets my blood going."

Alexander hummed attentively as he turned away from Sonic and looked at the trees at his left. "You must have a very wild life out there, Sonic," he said.

Sonic shrugged absentmindedly. "If you say so."

Despite being minute, the conversation brightened Alexander's mood a little bit. Now, he was no longer in a bit of a somber mood, and the environment became much more pleasant. To be frank, he would like to talk to Sonic a little more, and possibly get to know him a little more. But he decided not to do that: Even though he did not like teasing, it was fun seeing Sonic bored and ramble speeches about yearning for danger and excitement. It seemed that a good friendship was underway.

* * *

He would have to think about it a little later, because they arrived at Horseshoe Gate about an hour later. Sure enough, Roquefort was waiting for them. 

"Hi, Sonic. Hi, Alexander." The mosquito made a "hello" wave with his right hand.

"Hey, Roquefort," replied Sonic before turning to Alexander. "This is the end of the line for me. Ciao!" And he disappeared up the path before Alexander – or anyone – could respond.

Alexander desired to quip regarding Sonic's quick retreat, but he decided to forgo it. Instead, he turned to Roquefort and stiltedly said, "So… are we ready to go?

"I don't see why not," Roquefort replied, and they walked across the planes of the Autumn Mushroom Forest.

The tour was quiet, but very peaceful. Both the human and the Mobian had explored the plateau, looking at the various fungi whenever they came across them. The mushrooms sprouted in various areas of the section (per usual), and they all ranged from five to twenty feet, definitely not as tall as the ones from Summer Mushroom Hill. The caps were either dark blue with light blue spots or vice-versa, and the trunks were a little browner than their (much) warmer relatives.

Heavens, mushrooms and mushrooms were everywhere. A paradise found in an area above the ocean rather than on it. An oddity that was only found in Mobius rather than in a _proper_ dimension… like Earth. Tranquility, serenity, and the like – it was all there. And for once, it was not taken away nor was it disrupted from any vile, insubordinate, despicable, disgusting sneak attack!

Of course, Alexander enjoyed his little trek in the Autumn section. It was nice seeing all the fungi around him. Tall, wavy plants that swayed in the gentle breeze were a part of the wildlife that he always enjoyed.

"Great time for peace again," muttered Alexander to himself. Usually, a mutter would mean anger or desire to plot something back at those he loathed, but not this case. He was enjoying it all, and the smile on his face said it all… or did it? Oh, well.

**"****Why am I not surprised?"** retorted the Chaos Emerald, his snippy voice echoing within Alexander's cranium.

_"__Oh, great. Not this again."_ Alexander's frustrated thoughts were followed by a disgruntled sigh. If the Emerald was kept quiet for one minute… No, he would need _it_ for assistance, just in case.

**"****I'm a Chaos Emerald, not a toy, kid,"** responded the Chaos Emerald severely. He was not going to allow any form of backtalk whatsoever. How hypocritical: He was being the jerk first!

_"__Sorry, I was just a bit annoyed with you in my head again,"_ said Alexander. _"That and I don't want to have an argument right now."_ A scowl and a glare to nothing but air quickly followed.

The talk was supposed to continue, but Roquefort interrupted them.

"Are you doing okay?" he asked while looking over his left shoulder.

Alexander relaxed his – to Roquefort's view – silly glare, replaced it with a calm expression, and turned to the mosquito. "I'm doing fine," he replied.

Roquefort was not so sure, and his doubtful voice showcased it. "Are you sure? From your angry expression, it sounded as if you were holding some sort of grudge."

Alexander's face froze. Oh-no! Did he catch Alexander talking telepathically to the Chaos Emerald? He was in major trouble. Maybe not…

"N-No-Nothing, Roquefort," he stammered and waved it off dismissively with his left hand. "It was nothing."

Roquefort raised his right eyebrow (if he had one). "Are you sure it was nothing?" he wondered confusingly. An inquiring mind had to know, eh? Unfortunately, he was not going to get it.

"I'm sure," Alexander replied both forcefully and nervously.

Roquefort retained his doubtful look, but he shrugged and looked ahead.

Alexander quietly sighed in relief. _"That was TOO close,"_ he thought.

**"****Agreed,"** the gemstone's voice concurred.

Alexander made no telepathic comeback this time.

Unknown to them, the creak far in the background quaked, but just a bit.

* * *

The exploration in the Autumn section ended an hour later, as they walked through an underground tunnel, similar to the Cosmic Cave. It was about twenty feet wide and thirty feet high, plenty of room for both of them to walk, especially side by side (if they wanted to). The walls and ceiling contained various minerals, particularly quartz and zinc; and it glimmered dimly in the faint light from the two ends. And the light dark brown ground was mixed with small gray rocks. 

Roquefort watched ahead, while Alexander looked around. While there was not much light (not yet, anyway), it still looked beautiful. The tunnel felt serene and looked inviting, and with the sparkling around, it did not even matter that the place was gray. Well… as gray as gray could be. Then again, color did not matter in the first place, now did it?

As they reached the other side, Alexander looked ahead, and when they finally exited, he gasped.

Green mushrooms were everywhere! Short ones, tall ones, thin ones, fat ones, Big caps, big stalks, small caps, small stalks, whichever size they each varied.

The green fungi of the Spring Mushroom Forest were indeed a jungle. It was not your typical jungle, for it was not so muggy. It felt a bit mild with a bit of a cold crisp in the air. The wind from the habitat was like the average mid-spring day in some areas, possibly 60 to 65 degrees, but not higher or lower.

However, the mushrooms told the tale of the environment. They ranged from ten to forty feet in height, and five to fifteen feet in diameter. The wobbly, but firm and flexible, trunks were dark gray, about as gray as the bottom of a thundercloud. The stalks looked very shiny, despite how gloomy the color was, and the sunlight's reflection showcased it extremely faintly as various specks of light indistinctly ricocheted off the stipes and onto the soft, three-foot-long, chrome-colored grass below. The pilei differed in size, too: The dimensions of each cap fluctuated within fifteen to sixty feet in diameter, and the "hats" were either bright green with dark green spots or dark green with bright green spots.

Both Alexander and Roquefort were currently standing on a small but slippery hill, and the dark grass was beating up their legs, although the wind was very calm. The fungi – big or little, it made no difference – lined in rows along each side, and it swayed in the wind. Above them, the bright blue, cloudless sky no longer existed. Instead, ominous light gray clouds hung overhead, and they swirled in quick fashion – well, as quick as an average cloud would alter forms, to correctly state. The bottoms were dark gray, and they hypothetically screamed "incoming storm."

While Roquefort's gaze was calm (as if he was used to it, which he was, but that was another story), Alexander was ecstatic. Sure, his external expression looked both calm and surprised, but internally, he was excited. The spring section looked splendid. It looked quiet, serene, and peaceful. Oh, heavens, he could not even _wait_ to explore the area, and he was not going to let the rain stop him.

**_"_****_The usual Alexander I know,"_** thought the Chaos Emerald irritably. Oh, how he wished to bring Alexander down to Earth and make him think about taking care of business that was even more important than exploring Mushroom Hill. Wait a minute. What _was_ this business anyway? Never mind.

Roquefort glanced at his left and smiled faintly. "I can sense that you like this place already?" he said, teasing minutely.

Alexander possibly brought himself down to Earth by looking down and looking at the mosquito. "'Like' doesn't even describe how much I like this place."

**_"_****_How typical of you to think like that,"_** thought the Emerald, his mood souring quicker than the anger of a powerful tornado. Oh, how he wanted this exploration to end soon; he was getting tired of it already!

Not likely.

"Shall we continue our exploration, Alexander?" asked Roquefort.

Alexander was looking down the hill when he heard Roquefort tell him that. He turned to him and nodded with a positive hum.

"Okay then," said Roquefort and grabbed Alexander's right arm with his left hand. "But it will be slippery," he added once seeing Alexander's shocked expression.

The child calmed down right away. "All right, then," he finalized.

Afterwards, they started walking down the hill. The knoll indeed proved to be very slippery. Both of them wound up slipping a little bit because of stepping on some really wet grass. Furthermore, small rocks and pebbles hid within the turf, so they had to be even _more_ careful when climbing down this slope.

Finally, both made it to the bottom. They had slipped a little bit more, of course, but they were not injured at all; only a few wet spots on the feet, ankles, hands, and feet were the results. As before, nothing was going to stop them from reaching the bottom. _Nothing!_

"Are we ready to continue exploring, Alexander?" said Roquefort.

_**"**_**_I hope so,"_** thought the Chaos Emerald in an ill-mannered tone.

"I don't see why not," was Alexander's simple reply.

Afterwards, they started walking straight ahead…

"AAHHH!"

_**CRASH!**_

…But not until Alexander stepped his right foot on a slippery rock, causing him to fall flat on his face.

Mentally cursing to himself, he raised his head a little and spat some leaves out of his mouth. "…Ouch," he groaned monotonously.

**"****That's what you get for not watching where you're going instead of DOING YOUR JOB!"** The Chaos Emerald's voice from within his head went from an "I told you so" sarcastic remark to a cross yell.

_"__Oh, shut up,"_ grumbled Alexander telepathically, his mood becoming extremely sour.

However, he calmed himself down, got to his feet, and proceeded to explore the region with Roquefort by his side.

When they were several yards away, the small black rock that embedded itself within the rock rattled violently. But it was not strong enough to catch their attention.

* * *

At one-and-a-half miles in perimeter, Spring Mushroom Forest was the second-biggest section of Mushroom Hill, as well as the wettest. Dark gray grass covered the covered the wet black mud, the blades glossy with droplets of water as rainwater splattered onto the ground. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of green-capped mushrooms stood tall and proud above everything, whether they were on the border or within. 

Of the 90 acres the spring sector contained, the field within was 75 acres. The meadow was flat like a board, only a few small banks now and then. A few long dandelions sprouted from the grass and waved softly in the wind, similar to what the zephyr did to the grass. The plains were also in the shape of a pointy-ended oval. When they exited the tunnel, the fungi were virtually side-by-side. Now, the borders had spread in opposite directions, and the clusters were close to becoming nothing except mere skylines in the background.

Speaking of the mushrooms, they stood in various areas of the meadow. Several of the stalks were no wider than ten feet, and they shined in the faint light. Raindrops bounced off their green hats, rolled down the side, and either hung along the rim or fell onto the grass below. Nevertheless, the exotic mushrooms appeared to be glossy with dew, "appeared" being the key word.

_**GRR…!**_

Wait a minute. That foreign rumble was not part of the scenery… It was probably nothing.

Unfortunately, they did not notice the small quake as they continued exploring.

Roquefort was okay with the rain. Alexander, however, was a different story.

"Stupid rain," he muttered crossly after slipping on some wet gray grass and falling on his back.

"The rain's giving you a hard time, huh?" wondered Roquefort as he reached out his left hand.

Alexander accepted the offering and pulled himself to his feet again. "Very," he replied and shook his hands to force the wet mud off his palms. "But the rain doesn't seem to give you any trouble."

"I've been here all my life, and I'm used to harsh weather, especially in this territory," replied Roquefort. "It's very rare for Spring Mushroom Forest to have a rain-free day."

"But I thought if it keeps on raining, the dirt and soil will erode," interjected Alexander.

"That may be true, but the rain doesn't usually pour in big buckets," replied Roquefort. "Remember, your world may be different from mine."

"I see," said Alexander and looked down. His eyes then quickly rounded as he turned back to Roquefort. "Wait a sec. How do you know about my world?"

"Amy told me," was Roquefort's simple answer.

"Ah," comprehended Alexander, and the topic ended.

As they continued trekking, the clouds started bawling as it began to rain even harder. The wind, which was soft before, occasionally gusted, making it difficult for both of them to remain standing. The stems swerved violently to the left – the direction the wind and rain traveled. Thank heavens the stipes were sturdy.

As for the rainfall, it began to pour in buckets, as what Roquefort described it: The rainfall hardened drastically, and the cloud bases blackened ominously. In addition, thunder clapped nearby, making the trip hazardous.

Alexander – in a completely wet mess – described the solution perfectly.

"We better find some shelter quickly," he shivered while hugging himself tightly.

Again, Roquefort was used to the harsh environment that was the thunderstorm, but others came first.

And the huge beat-down of water on the top of his hairy head only made his decision resolute.

"I like that idea," he replied and shook his head in a brisk pace. It did not really work, for his head quickly refilled with the heavy water. It was a nice try, though.

Afterwards, they started running while trying to cover their heads with their arms. No use, though, as the rain fell on an angle and drenched their faces.

A few moments later, Roquefort recalled something… and was splashed in the nose with a huge raindrop to go with it.

"I know a place where we can sit under 'til the rain lets up," he said suddenly while looking ahead, his sharp nose dripping with rainwater. "If we can run quickly, we can arrive in a couple of minutes."

"Then, let's go," exclaimed Alexander, his left arm and head soaked, "because I'm getting really tired of this darn storm!"

Roquefort nodded, and they ran quicker than ever before.

Their timing was perfect, because a few minutes later, they noticed a mushroom that was oddly low in height. Sure, it was about fifteen feet high with a four-foot wide stipe, but the gigantic dark green pileus was what made this low mushroom distinctive.

In a logical stance, most hats in Mushroom Hill would be no bigger than fifteen feet with such a stem that was so skinny. Instead, the hat was _90 feet in diameter._ Yes, that was correct, 90 feet in diameter. With a pileus this humongous, it was miraculous that the stalk had yet collapsed. So, what was the secret that kept the cap suspended like this?

Wait and see. Or not—

Alexander had only caught a glimpse of this unusual mushroom, and he thought it was beautiful right away. But before he could think about gazing at it even more, his mind immediately clicked.

"_Oh… yeah. Get to dry ground first."_

They ran closer and closer to the fungi, when a lightning bolt suddenly crashed a few yards off to the right. Then, the thunderclap boomed. They had to get to safety. They _had_ to!

And they did.

They ran under the mushroom and collapsed onto the dry gray grass. Panting, panting, and more panting escaped their system as air filled into their lungs.

In a few moments, they no longer gasped for air and got into a sitting position.

Both were at a loss of words, a trend involving the two of them.

Finally, someone spoke…

"Well… that was tiring," was all Roquefort could say.

"You don't say," said Alexander, half-sarcastically, half-jokingly. "I'm still wiped out from all that running."

"Then why are you crouched down instead of lying flat on your back?" teased Roquefort.

"It doesn't matter," said Alexander, his breathing still a bit hoarse. "My energy's depleted right now."

_**CRASH!**_

A loud clap of thunder crashed nearby, quaking the ground ferociously; and both Alexander and Roquefort yelped out of surprise. The argument was long forgotten.

"So, we're stuck here for now, aren't we?" asked Alexander, still shaken up from the thunderclap.

"Well, there's nowhere else to go with this storm around," said Roquefort and placed his arms on his legs. "So, the answer's pretty much a 'yes.'"

"Just as I thought," replied Alexander and showed off his fatigue by plopping onto the pillowy grass.

"_Ah, much better,"_ he thought afterwards and looked at his left arm. His sleeve was so soaked it stuck on his skin. _"Maybe not THAT much better,"_ he added in thought.

Roquefort guessed Alexander's antics, and he should know how he felt, too; his thick red-brown fur was soaking wet, and rainwater still dripped off the sides of his nose. They had to get dry, and Roquefort had all he needed.

As Alexander looked at his drenched arm, a cup bounced off his knuckles and landed on the dry ground. It was when he picked it up to what he knew was occurring.

"Well, I am a little thirsty."

…Maybe not…

"That's half of it," began Roquefort and brandished a cup himself. Then, without warning, he punctured the mushroom's trunk with his pointy nose. Silver liquid poured out from within thee trunk and onto the ground, and Roquefort quickly placed the cup under the "fountain."

Once the liquid reached the rim, he carefully pulled the cup towards and told Alexander, "You better hurry up before the opening closes."

The Halbery child responded by quickly placing his own cup under the liquid.

The crack closed by the time the shiny sap reached the rim.

Alexander carefully brought the cup to him and looked at the silvery sap. "I wonder what this sap does," he said while looking at his reflection.

Roquefort sipped some of the fluid. "That's something you have to figure out," he said with concealment.

"Well, that helps," muttered Alexander and carefully took a sip.

All the while, the storm continued brewing.

* * *

Alexander sighed after finishing his drink. 

"I take it that you're much better, huh?" smiled Roquefort. He had finished his drink a few minutes earlier, and was now leaning on the base of the mushroom's trunk.

"You bet that it did," Alexander replied with a bit of a lisp. "Although my tongue's still burning a little."

"Well, I did say that the Spring Mushroom's contents are gonna burn your mouth if you drank too much of it at once," Roquefort stated.

"Yeah… _after_ I took too much of a gulp," interjected the Halbery child with a cross stare.

Roquefort began to chuckle. "And you now feel the wrath of the warmth of its contents."

"Two-hundred and twelve degrees of warmth," added Alexander before looking at his arms and legs. "At least, the fluid helped me dry off faster."

"Now you don't have to spend a couple of hundred Mobiums at a far-away dry cleaners," joked Roquefort.

Alexander found himself laughing, but quieted himself for some reason. "What are 'Mobiums'?"

"The main money for Mobians," the mosquito told him.

"Ah," Alex said, then looked ahead, and watched the rain plummet to the ground below. "Very nasty weather out there, isn't it?"

Roquefort looked away from him and keenly watched the raindrops fall before him. "I agree with you there," he said, "and I'm really surprised that this occurred, too. The weather rarely gets very inclement. Just a long, light rain shower is what you would usually see here."

A lightning bolt struck behind them.

"And I can bet thunder and lightning are even more rare," quipped Alexander with a bit of a joke.

"Once in a moonless night," said Roquefort straightforwardly, missing the tease.

Alexander then scooted himself to the stipe and leaned on it. "Looks like we're stuck for now."

Roquefort replied with a nod as he kept his gaze on the rainy plains ahead.

Alexander, however, put his hands behind his head and decided to look up at the mushroom's underside. Above him, the stem had spread itself and grappled onto the pileus like roots cementing a tree in the soil. In addition, he could see white lamellae contracting and retracting, like a person's chest when inhaling and exhaling.

A sigh followed. It was such calmness under this mushroom, a big contradiction because of the nasty thunderstorm around it. I mean, look around him. Thunder clapped harder than a hammer hitting a wall at 100 miles-per-hour, rainwater darted towards the ground below, and if he listened closely (something he was not doing), he could hear a cloud bawling in the background. Surely, anyone who had the nerve to waltz out there would be soaked so much that he or she would never want to bathe again. Thank heavens Roquefort showed him this mushroom just in time… or was it just a little too late? Nonetheless, they were here, the storm was out there, and that was all that mattered.

_**GRR…!**_

Alexander hummed questioningly. A growl? He did not recall ever hearing that before. But a shrug of his shoulders resulted following some quick thinking.

"_It's probably nothing,"_ he concluded in thought as he continued to look up at the gills.

_**GRR…!**_

There it was again! This time, the ground softly rumbled to go with it.

Once again, he shrugged his shoulders. _"It might be just my mind playing tricks on me,"_ he thought, _"I think."_

Maybe not…

_**GRR…!**_

His eyes nearly popped out as the growl loudened and the ground quaked. Now, he was starting a worry a little; if it was nothing, then why did the low noises refuse to stop?

"**I can sense your thoughts, Alexander,"** said the Chaos Emerald, his voice echoing within Alexander's brain.

Alexander groaned from the voice again, but it was not the time to sulk. A telepathic talk was in order.

"_I had a guess you did,"_ replied Alexander as he closed his eyes and subsequently went to the subject. _"This strange rumbling is starting to become suspicious."_

"**What do you mean?"**

"_I just heard it while I lied here. At first, I thought it was nothing. Then, I heard it again. Not once, but twice."_ He toyed with a strand of hair on the back of his head. _"Something's screwy, if you ask me."_

Silence fell, but not for long.

**"To be honest, I'm not quite sure what's going on. It could be the storm, I assume."**

_"__Or, it could be one of Eggman's robots,"_ Alexander challenged.

From within the bag, the Emerald's aura darkened. **"Of course.** **Eggman's robots could be a cause to this… And I bet he's more than willing to try to capture me if that's what he's doing."**

_"__But why would he try to come after you again?"_ wondered Alexander. _"Should he know that there are five other Chaos Emeralds floating around?"_

**"****Again, don't ever forget about Eggman, Alex,"** the Emerald interrogated. **"He can be really stubborn whenever he wants to be."**

_"__I can tell,"_ Alex snorted, recalling the previous attacks by the Doctor himself.

"Alexander?"

The child broke off contact with the Chaos Emerald at once, and turned to Roquefort.

"What is it, Roquefort?" he asked, his eyes now open.

The Mobian insect was still looking in front of him, but a smile was etched across his face.

"Look around you," he advised.

And Alexander did just that. While the clouds remained, the rain stopped falling, and sunlight broke through the fluffy, yet ominous, gray formations.

"When did the rain stop?" he wondered, still looking around.

"About a minute ago," came the reply before turning to Alexander on his right. "So, how was your nap?"

Alexander stopped suddenly after hearing his friend say that. "Excuse me?" he queried as he turned to Roquefort, his expression looking stiff.

"From the corner of my eye, I noticed your eyes closed," Roquefort replied as his eyes flashed with some concern.

Alexander internally froze with panic. He had to think of an excuse and fast! He wound up getting one quicker than expected.

"Well, I felt a little tired, and wanted to relax for a moment," he fibbed and laughed nervously.

Roquefort looked confused from Alexander's titter, but shrugged it off again.

"Oh… okay…" he said slowly.

Alexander made no reply. _"That was cutting it close,"_ he thought. Well, his secret was still – what else? – a secret.

Nevertheless, he still had to tell Roquefort something.

"Roquefort, I have a question I like to ask you."

"What is it?" asked Roquefort and turned to the child.

"A few minutes ago, I not only heard a low, menacing growl, but I felt the grass beneath shake." He unclasped his hands and placed them on the gray grass. "I wonder if you sensed it, too."

Roquefort shook his head adamantly. "No, haven't noticed any of it…"

Alexander, once again, made no reply as he looked up once again.

_"__I felt and heard it, but he didn't?"_ he thought. _"Strange…"_

_**GRR…!**_

A stiff gawk followed once hearing the growl again. _"Maybe not so strange,"_ he added in thought and turned to Roquefort, who was standing again. "You finally heard it, I believe."

Roquefort nodded, his irises firm. "Yep, I did, and I felt it, too; and it's nearby, I might add."

Alexander sprang to his feet at once and backed up to where their backs touched. "This is not good," he muttered.

"I agree," Roquefort replied, "and it doesn't sound like it's a 'what,' either."

Alexander looked at him with a bit of a shocked expression.

Roquefort knew what Alexander thought and nodded in reply. "So, keep your eyes peeled."

And, so, they did, as they looked side-to-side to find this mysterious culprit. So far, he could not be spotted.

_**GRR…!**_

There it went again. The growl became even louder, and the ground rumbled furiously.

They gasped again and continued to look around. Whatever it was—

_**GRR…!**_

The growl loudened even more, and the ground quaked violently. Unlike Roquefort, Alexander lost his balance from the shaking, and he fell onto the ground.

"Are you all right?" Roquefort asked in a quick pace.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Alexander, and he stood up and moved his eyes back and forth. "Do you think it's nearby?"

"I've a good guess that it is," the mosquito answered sharply.

Alexander looked back with a bit of confusion. _"Since when did Roquefort talk so harshly and determinedly?"_

**"****Take a guess,"** the Emerald said with authority, his voice reverberating in Alexander's head.

He ignored the annoying echo and followed it with a struggling blink. _"…Oh, I see what you mean."_ Afterwards, he cleared his throat and continuing to "find" the culprit.

However, several minutes would pass by, and something queer would occur during their protective stance:

The growling seemed to stop.

Yes, that was right. It stopped. No snarl, no roar, nothing, and the rumbling of the ground stopped along with it.

Alexander relaxed and looked at Roquefort from the corner of his left eye. "This is strange," he said. "For some time, we heard this menacing snarl, and now, it's gone."

Roquefort nodded, his gaze still stiff. "It's a bit strange, I'll have to say. Usually, when I hear something this dark, it won't stop."

Alexander turned his head to Roquefort. "So, you've heard something like this before?"

Roquefort nodded. "I've heard it a year or two ago. I went to try to find it, but was unable to."

"So, now, it has come back," finished the human child.

"Very likely," Roquefort answered. "And I don't think it has left, either, so keep your guard on."

Alexander made an "mm-hmm" sound and did exactly what Roquefort instructed.

But as he did so…

_**CHICK!**_

"Ow!"

…He placed his left index finger into his mouth.

"Are you okay, Alexander?" asked Roquefort while peaking behind him.

Alexander pulled his finger away and shook it ferociously. "I'll be fine; something bit me, that's all."

No, that was _not_ all…

_**GRR!**_

The growling returned. This time, it echoed from where they were. Furthermore, Alexander lost his balance once more… not to mention briefly rubbing his head with his left head.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Alexander interrupted before Roquefort could ask him anything. Just as he got to his feet, he yelped in pain again. "My aching head," he moaned.

Not wanting to hear any more stubbornness, Roquefort turned to Alexander. "I think you should sit down until your head gets better," he suggested, his voice kind yet firm.

Alexander wanted to object, but decided to give up instead. "Maybe you're right, Roquefort." A frustrated sigh escaped his system, and he went to sit on the grass. The moment he did, though, he yelped out of pain once again.

"Stupid thing won't stop _biting me!"_ he groaned under his breath as he continued to scratch his head with his left hand.

Roquefort's antennae perche, and he turned to the Halbery child. There was no way he was not going to let any form of murmuring slither away unnoticed. "Excuse me?" he wondered.

Although he did not look up, Alexander knew that the mosquito was looking down at him. And the phrase he used made him guess that he was concerned, too.

"There's something in my hair that's biting me," winced Alexander, still scratching his hair.

Roquefort pondered internally. Something was biting Alexander? That was odd… Might as well have a look…

"Let me see," insisted the insect and crouched down, "but you must stop scratching first."

Alexander complied and put his hand down on the ground.

"Now, let's see…" muttered Roquefort as he started examining Alexander's hair. He carefully touched it, trying to find anything strange that swam deep in the human's scalp.

He did not have to look for very long, for he felt something on a strange of hair on the back of Alexander's head.

"Found it," he whispered and grabbed it with his right index and middle fingers. However, as he pulled it out…

_**BING!**_

…The pest vanished.

Roquefort grumbled under his breath as a result of its escape. Oh, well. Better luck next time.

"You okay now, Alex?" he asked and got to his feet.

Alexander followed suit. From Roquefort's reaction, he already knew that he criminal escaped, but decided to keep quiet on it, nevertheless.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," the human replied and touched his scalp again. "Jeez! What was that thing that won't stop nipping me?"

Roquefort shrugged. "Don't know. He escaped before I had the chance to find out."

Alexander quickly had a thought. Illogical, yes, but it was a thought, nonetheless. "Do you think that what bit me was the source of what was going on?"

"I doubt it, but it's a possibly."

"Well, let's hope it is, then," finished Alexander and grinned, "because I want to get back to exploring."

"Me, too," laughed Roquefort, and they walked passed the stipe, attempting to exit the mushroom.

However…

_**GRRRRRR…!**_

…A loud, menacing, earth-shaking growl reverberated throughout the area.

Alexander almost fell forward, but Roquefort quickly grabbed his left arm.

"Thanks, Roquefort."

"Don't mention it," Roquefort responded and released his grip once Alexander regained his balance.

_**GRRRRRRRRRR…!**_

But he had to grab Alexander's arm once again as the snarl sounded a lot more like a thunderous roar.

"Thanks again," he said with a sigh.

Roquefort nodded with a hum before gasping out of surprise.

The low growl returned, but Alexander did not fall this time.

Suddenly, he noticed Roquefort's antennae twitch and turned his head sharply. "What is it, Roquefort?"

"Somebody's coming," came his sharp reply.

The Halbery child gasped from Roquefort's response.

"I thought you'd react like that," said Roquefort, his antennae moving erratically. A frown was then etched across the bottom of his snout. "And I'm pretty sure that it was responsible for all that growling lately."

Alexander wanted to reply, but the Chaos Emerald interrupted.

"**I believe him, Alexander,"** he said, his voice calm yet anxious.

"_Are you sure?"_ asked Alexander, his voice both telepathic and doubtful.

"**I'm very sure, Alex,"** replied the gemstone's voice seriously. **"Its presence is extremely strong."** And, before Alexander could say something in return, the jewel added, **"It should be nearby."**

Boy, was he right, and in more ways than one, too.

Suddenly, an odd sound was heard, causing everyone (even the Chaos Emerald in Alexander's bag) to gasp out of fright.

"What's going on?" asked Roquefort anxiously while moving his head erratically.

"I don't know, Roquefort," replied Alexander, feeling a little timid from the non-human rumbling. _"And I wish I don't want to find out, either,"_ he whimpered in thought.

"**Unfortunately, it's likely you're gonna have to face it,"** went in the Emerald's voice, his small aura glowing within the bag.

Alexander sighed, knowing he might be right. _"Pretty likely,"_ he responded back.

"Pretty likely" turned out to be a huge understatement, for they subsequently heard a low growl.

Roquefort's left antenna twitched once he heard it, apparently detecting the location of the voice. Not wanting to wait, he turned around and looked at the direction of the tunnel.

Once he did, however, his face suddenly froze.

Alexander noticed it and turned to him. "What's wrong?" he asked confusingly.

Roquefort pointed with his right hand.

Alexander followed it and gasped at the sight, too.

In front of them was a large black-haired creature on his fours. If he was standing, he would be possibly ten feet tall, but he was not, so he was a little shorter. His face looked a lot like a cat's. Triangular ears were on the top of his head, a bristle of white fur sticking up in the air. Small yellow eyes locked down malevolently, like the duo was his prey. The black triangular nose on the end of its bridge wiggled like a rabbit. White whiskers and eyebrows protruded out from his cheeks and above his eyes, respectively. A tongue wrapped itself across his lips, if he had any. His body was slender and agile-looking. Long, sleek black fur covered his chest and stomach, the sparse light shining across his right side. A long, rat-like, black-and-white tail swayed back and forth like a zebra swung it to shoo away annoying insects. His legs looked thin, but very strong. Not a lot of meat was on it, but like the cat itself, the bones appeared to be very firm and healthy.

However, there was something interesting on him. No, it was not how he looked (although his black body looked splendid), but what was on his neck, leg, and head. A small golden crown was on his head, and it was carved into the model of a closed-mouthed cobra. Wrapped around his neck and his abdomen was a silky sand-colored cape. The red shade was compared to a dark crimson, something that the sparse light reflected strongly. Its fat trimming was beige, and it contained specks of electrum. Finally, a golden armlet was wrapped around the bottom of his left leg, pieces of carnelian and lapis lazuli inlaid in it.

The cat-like creature looked at them ominously and growlingly, but kept his distance. He then walked around the stem and was soon standing about ten feet from them. Despite acting very evil, he looked like a gentle folk. There was no provocation, no motion for any attack. It was as if he was curious and wanted to inspect them.

It would not be very calm for long…

"_GGGRRAAAAAAAAWWWWRRRR!"_

The creature reached his head back and roared loudly and furiously. Its noise echoed like a loud voice bouncing off the walls of a tunnel, and everything quaked violently – from the ground, to the mushrooms, even to the clouds overhead.

"AAHHHH!" cried out the duo of Alexander and Roquefort, and they covered their hearing ears and antennae (depending on which creature had them). While the artificial earthquake did not cause them to fall, the noise and echo really hurt them. They felt like they were going to become deaf because it hurt so much. Please, make it stop, they pleaded subconsciously. Make it stop!

Then, as the pain surged through their bodies, it stopped. There was no more echoing, no more violently quaking, no nothing. Everything that was hurting their ears suddenly halted. Thank goodness… but could they still hear? Did they become deaf? Were they never going to hear anything again as long as they lived?

But a faint rustle of grass was heard not long after. They were not deaf, and there was no hearing loss, either. Let them hope they would not feel this much pain again, because they might not be able to sustain it the next time around.

When they looked at him once again, however, they were beginning to freak out and were wishing that they kept their eyes closed: The beast's yellow eyes turned pearl white; and a contemptuous growl was aimed right at them, his long, sharp teeth both exposed and hungry.

Suddenly, he took a step closer, then another, and another, and another! It did not do much good for him, though, as both Alexander and Roquefort – each of them looking extremely terrified – started walking backwards.

No sooner than when they walked out from underneath the mushroom did their worst fears come to life…

"LOOK OUT!" cried Roquefort and pushed Alexander (and himself) out of the way.

They were able to move aside just in time, for the beast landed on the spot they were once at.

They were nowhere near out of the woods just yet, especially for Alexander.

The creature turned his head toward him and growled vilely, causing the ground to shake. Then, he pounced at his direction, his mouth opening widely along the way.

Alexander screamed out of fright and lunged to his right, narrowly escaping his enemy's jaws.

Groaning from crashing on the ground, Alexander looked up and there he was again, growling contemptuous and eyeing at him. And, then, he lunged right at him again.

"AAAHHH!" he screamed and ran to his left, escaping the pounce.

Roquefort (who was watching the attack) quickly ran up to his comrade, sporting a look of concern on his face.

"Are you okay, Alexander?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Alexander with a small pant before looking at the gigantic cat ahead.

The tom was not to be fazed; no sooner did he hear their voice, his feral state returned – the same menacing snarl and glare were targeting both of them.

And, then, he pounced…

"_GRRAAAAWWWRR!"_

…And roared thunderously.

Alexander and Roquefort covered their ears or antennae, and they began running back from where they came.

No sooner than the moment they ran, however, did the roaring stop.

But when they look back, they screamed out of fright. The creature was now chasing them, and he was gaining ground with each sprint.

"What's with him?" exclaimed Alexander belligerently, hard pants escaping his system each time he breathed. "We didn't do anything to him, did we?"

"I don't know, either," replied Roquefort while looking back. "Right now, we should ignore about that right now and keep running instead!"

"_Ditto that,"_ thought Alexander in agreement.

And then…

"Alexander…!" exclaimed Roquefort.

"What is it?" asked Alexander wonderingly while looking at Roquefort.

The Mobian mosquito pointed, and Alexander followed it. The cat had slowed itself down and opened his mouth widely.

"I don't notice anything, Roquefort," he said. "Except seeing him yawn."

"Don't be fooled, Alexander," advised Roquefort. "That is no yawn."

"Huh?" Alexander queried bewilderedly before hearing a mysterious whirring from the background.

Even though he still ran, he retained his attention on the creature. Sure enough, he agreed with Roquefort. There was some sort of power coming from him, but what was it?

He soon wished he did not find out…

_**CHOOM!**_

…Because a huge beam of yellow light was suddenly fired, and it was getting closer, and closer, and closer, and closer, until…

"**LOOK OUT!"**

Alexander did not even try to wait for the Emerald's yell, as he suddenly pulled back, grabbed onto Roquefort's left arm, and dove to the ground.

Good thing he did, because the beam soared over them and crashed into the grass a few yards away, exploding on impact.

Alexander sighed in relief once the sound of the explosion died down. _"That was close,"_ he thought. _"If we remained standing for three extra seconds, we would be dead by now."_

"**I hate to burst your bubble, Alexander,"** interrupted the Chaos Emerald's voice, **_"but it's gaining on us!"_**

Alexander shot up and looked behind him. The feral monster locked his eyes upon the child, and was already preparing for a mad dash.

With a yelp of fright, he grabbed a semi-delirious Roquefort by the arm and pulled themselves up. "C'mon, Roquefort!" he yelped. "He'll be gaining on us if we don't run!"

Roquefort had a tough time standing up, but his friend's calling snapped him out of it.

"_GRRRR!"_

Well, not without a little more help from a very familiar growl, too.

* * *

From afar, the creature looked upon them with venomous eyes. Those vermin looked so delicious. He could just smell them right now and imagine them what they would taste like after they were dead. It was a shame he would have to kill them first. 

Oh, no! They were running away from him! His prey was trying to escape from his grasp. Well, over his dead body. There was no way he would _ever_ allow that. Not now, not ever! With a thunderous roar, he chased after them like the carnivorous little creature he was. Oh, just they wait, the fools, just they wait. Wait until they were at his mercy. Then, they could decide what version of horror they desired… if they ever lived for it, that was.

Wait a minute. He knew where they were going. Now, it made very much sense to him. A lick of his chomps followed. He had an idea how to scare them out. That would make his upcoming dinner all the much enjoyable. Oh, yes, indeed.

The only thing he needed now was where to put it on as a garnish. Hmm… Maybe later tonight, he would think about it. Now, time to surprise his prey.

* * *

Alexander and Roquefort ran across the plains as quickly as they could (and it was a little bit quicker, too; Roquefort decided to use his wings and pulled Alexander along for the ride). 

Poor Alexander was forced to take long strides because that was the only way to keep up with Roquefort without being dragged along the ground. And, boy, was he hurting. He was certain that he pulled something sometime earlier. If his worst fears came true, it would be several weeks before he could walk normally again, and the Chaos Emerald would not tolerate that under any circumstances.

**"****Damn straight,"** his voice said, detecting the child's thoughts like a magnet.

_"__Thanks for the encouragement, kind sir,"_ Alexander sarcastically said telepathically.

**"****No problem,"** said the gem in a mock-kind manner.

Their conversation would be interrupted.

"How're you doing, Alexander?" asked Roquefort as he looked at his right.

"I'm doing okay," replied Alexander. _"As okay as a human pretzel,"_ he added in thought.

"**A tasty one at best,"** chortled the Chaos Emerald's cranium-echoing vocality.

If this were an anime showcase, he would face-fault from that remark. _"But you don't have a mouth; you can't even eat!"_

"**So? 'Twas a nice a nice thought."**

Alexander rolled his eyes. _"The red Emerald was right all along. Your way of thinking lacks common sense sometimes."_

"**Hey! _I'm_ not alone who needs a bit of common sense, you know,"** retorted the Chaos Emerald, his aura from within the bag glowing dark blue and becoming very hot.

Alexander could literally feel the anger after touching the burning bag, so he decided to do what was good for him and clamp it.

He quieted himself at the right time…

"Alexander! We've reached the tunnel!" called Roquefort.

Alexander looked up and noticed the cave ahead of him. The opening was twenty feet high at its tallest, and it was in the shape of a half-circle. Formed all around it was what looked like a mountain. The façade looked a bit craggy, as there was a ledge above the entrance. Mushrooms were on each side of the cave, their tall formations blocking the view of what the facing looked like. In addition, three tall, skinny, light green-capped mushrooms towered above, blocking out the rest of the facing. Apparently, what the mountain looked like was going to be an eternal secret.

He did not look for long, however, for they soon zoomed into the dark tunnel. Moments later, Roquefort surprised him by landing on the ground and releasing his grip.

Alexander looked a little confused from the mosquito's actions and said so. "Why'd you stop flying?"

"Two reasons," said Roquefort. "One: I can't fly indoors. Two: For some reason, I can't fly any higher than a few feet above the ground, regardless of altitude – the further I'm off any solid ground, my wings sink."

"Ouch," flinched Alexander, then realized he burst a bubble. "Sorry, Roquefort."

Roquefort shook his head with a graceful smile. "No offense taken," he said. "Besides, I don't think you'd want to be very high above the ground."

Alexander snorted. "Don't even ask," he said curtly. "No offense to my tone," he quickly added politely.

"None taken," said Roquefort kindly and grabbed onto Alex's hand. "C'mon. Let's run."

Alexander obliged and ran alongside him.

About a quarter of the way, the Halbery child decided to look back and recalled something peculiar that he had seen – correction: make that _not_ seen – a few minutes ago.

"Is it me, or have we not seen that monster for a while now?"

Roquefort's eyes rounded (as rounded as they could be, apparently). "Now that I think of it, I haven't seen him in a while, either." He placed his unused right hand under his chin.

Alexander looked down, his expression looking a lot like he was pondering. "Do you think that he decided to give up chasing us?"

"Good question," replied Roquefort, "but I don't want to find out."

"Me, neither," agreed Alexander, and they continued running.

A few moments later, they noticed the other side of the tunnel in front of them. In just a few moments, they would be free, and they would no longer have to completely worry about that hungry feline.

"_GGRRRRAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWRRRRR!"_

Apparently, that was not the case.

Just as they reached the exit, the big creature roared loudly and echoingly, causing both Roquefort and Alexander to scream their heads off… literally.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" went the shriek, and they quickly ran back the other way, holding their ears and antennae along the way.

They were not going to escape on his watch, and he fired his beam at the left side of the cave wall.

_**BOOM!**_

Alexander and Roquefort were caught by surprise as an explosion threw them a few feet back. Pain surged through their bodies as a result. Not only from the ears (although it slowly went away), but their limbs, too. They were definitely going to need a nice, long bath later… if they could find one.

Groaning and moaning, they slowly sat up and gasped at what was about fifteen feet in front of them.

The cave was now blocked with a thick layer of rock. No light penetrated from the other side.

They then looked behind and noticed the feral cat was blocking the entrance.

A loud, collective gulp followed. They had reached the obvious.

They were trapped.

And it looked like they were losing space really fast – the overgrown tom was stalking them slowly and frightfully. His supper was moments away.

Alexander and Roquefort responded by backing up at the same pace.

Then, before they knew it, their backs were literally against the wall. There really was no way out.

And their lives were getting closer to being over, as the beast was still pussyfooting at them very slowly, trying to make them even more fearful and less confident.

It worked.

"I think this is the end of the line, Alexander," sighed Roquefort in defeat and hung his head, waiting for the upcoming death.

Alexander sighed. "Yeah, you might be right," he said, feeling ready to quit as well. _"If I did not feel so weak,"_ he thought grimly. _"If only I can have the strength to defeat that animal. They said I tapped into the Chaos Emerald once before, but I don't remember it."_ A sigh followed. _"So, now wha—"_

The light bulb turned on. _"That's it! Of course, why didn't I think of this before?"_ He grumbled under his breath for a moment and looked at Roquefort with a smile. "Roquefort, let's get outta here."

Roquefort looked flabbergasted from his comrade's sudden words. "But how can we?" he exclaimed frightfully. "The cat has us trapped!"

"I know," said Alexander cunningly and looked at the stalking cat about ten feet in front of him. Then, while opening his travel bag, he slyly said, "I've found a way of leaving here."

Roquefort did not quite believe him, but before he stop himself, he asked, "When are we gonna leave?"

Alexander firmly grabbed onto Roquefort's right arm with his left hand, his smile turning into a smirk. "Now." He reached into his bag.

* * *

The creature was eyeing his prey with every desire to frighten them. He wanted them to know what torture meant and how they were going to handle it. So far, it was all going according to plan. They were literally scared of him and were waiting for their upcoming death. In multiple ways, it smelled and tasted so tasty. 

Then, he noticed the human conversing with the insect. He did not know what they were talking about. He heard the child say they were leaving and he had the ticket in doing so. How foolish and pompous he was. They were trapped, there was no way out. He was just talking nonsense. And what was he putting his hand into that bag anyway? Was it a little fork and knife? If it was, he would surely welcome the utensils.

Was he wrong…

"_CHAOS CONTROL!"_

The human reached his right hand high into the air, and in it was some form of enlarged jewel in an Emerald cut. What trickery was this? A measly little gemstone was going to help them escape? Yeah, right.

Then he screamed. Bright blue light engulfed the cave, blinding the beast's eyes. What was happening? What was going on? Why could he not see?

Moments later, the light diminished, replacing it with the usual dark surroundings. But there was something missing, he could smell it.

Oh, no!

Where was his prey? His dinner? It was missing! The human and insect were no longer there. It could not happen. Did they escape? No, impossible. He had them; they were just a pounce away from being dead! No, it just could not be.

Wait! Maybe they were still around. Yes, that was logical.

So, he sniffed.

Nothing.

What? Nothing?

Oh, well, let him try again.

Another sniff followed.

Same result.

Therefore, he tried again, then again, and again!

Nothing!

No, it was not true. Tell him his prey escaped?

A sniff.

No…

Another one.

No.

An elaborate whiff.

No!

Finally, a gigantic, humongous, final, game-seven, bottom-of-the-ninth, winner-take-all-wrestling-match inhale.

All for naught…

_No!_

Why did his luck run out again? Why was he cursed with such bad luck? Please, for the love of the Mobian heavens, give him the luck that he rightfully deserved—

Huh? What the…? Was his wish coming true? Did he smell some prey nearby? It sure smelled like it. Hold on a minute! There was something familiar, something he recognized before. Something he…

_Yes!_ His food was nearby. Oh, thank the Mobian lord above. Now, time to find it.

And, so, he went…

_**CRASH!**_

…He just needed to barrel through the wall he created to find it, that was all.

* * *

"…Ow, my head," moaned Alexander as he reached for his head. He had never felt such a headache in a long time. Heck, not even the anomalies named Carddall and Mannato had inflicted such punishment on him. "Boy, do I need a drink of water right about now." 

Another moan was heard nearby.

"I agree with that statement," said Roquefort. "Or better yet, a drink of some of that mushroom sap."

"Yeah, that'd be better," chuckled Alexander and opened his eyes for the first time since triggering Chaos Control.

What was happening? Why could he see noting? It was all pitch black here.

But if that was true, why in the world could he see his own hands? Either it was something strange, or it could be some form of magic and witchcraft. Bah! Witchcraft. That was pure baloney… _"I think."_

Curiosity in his brain, he looked and noticed Roquefort.

An embarrassed blush hit his cheeks. "Roquefort, please get your hand off of me," he said in a quiet, but annoyed, tone.

Roquefort opened his heavy eyes and looked around. Blackness. He saw nothing, except himself. Then, he heard Alexander's annoyed hiss.

Wondering why, he looked down.

"Yaah!" he squeaked and jumped back out of surprise.

"S-Sorry, Alexander," apologized Roquefort and looked down, the sides of his nose flushing a dark red color.

The redness in the Halbery child's own cheeks quickly went away. "It's okay, Roquefort. It wasn't your fault." He got to his feet and helped Roquefort do the same.

"So, what's going on?" asked Roquefort as he moved his head around, his blush nothing more than a distant memory.

"I'm not sure," said Alexander as his head moved back and forth, too. "It's so dark in here, I can't see anything." He sighed and looked at his hands and arms. "Where did that Chaos Emerald and bag go?"

"You mean these?" Roquefort wondered and held out both the cyan jewel in his left hand and open travel bag on his lefft shoulder.

"Thanks." Alexander received the offerings and used the Chaos Emerald as some sort off flashlight. So far, he found nothing. "Drat, I can't pinpoint anything solid."

_"__So, this is the consequence of using Chaos Control without picturing something in my mind,"_ he added in thought and cursed under his breath.

**"****Watch your language, kid!"** scolded the Emerald's voice.

Alexander was in no mood to apologize now. _"Sorry,"_ but he did it anyway.

"Now, what do we do?" asked Roquefort.

Alexander shrugged. "Well, we could try to teleport ourselves outta here," he suggested.

Roquefort did not object to that idea and held Alexander's open left hand.

Alexander closed his eyes to try to picture an area that he recognized, something he did not do previously. In mere moments, a mental vision formed. He was ready.

_"__Chaos Control!"_ went his loud command.

The light from the cyan gemstone glowed brightly as the aura illuminated intensely. Such a surge of power was coming from this special jewel. He could really feel it.

And, then, the power left. The energy died down like electricity in a power outage.

Human eyes opened upon the discovery. "What the…?" he wondered and brought the Emerald to his face.

Roquefort looked back at him. "Was this supposed to happen?" he asked.

Alexander shook his head. "No, Roquefort. This is _not_ supposed to happen." He wanted to try again, but he felt no energy coming from the mystical jewel, albeit its bright aura surrounding it.

At last, he gave up. "Looks like we're stuck here."

Roquefort sighed in defeat after hearing that. Of all these years, he had never felt like quitting before until recently. And the mood was becoming very somber as Alexander decided not to try Chaos Control again.

However, his mood quickly changed upon thinking about something. Hopefully, what he thought would make them steer away from the solemnity.

"Alexander, what did you do to get us here?"

Alexander was caught back by the sudden question, but he sure hid it well as he showed him the gemstone.

"I used this jewel, called a Chaos Emerald, to travel to an area to escape that beast. The warp I used is called Chaos Control, and it located us here, wherever 'here' is," he added while looking up at the vast emptiness of darkness.

"Wow," gasped Roquefort, not believing what he heard. "I didn't even know gems like these could do something like this."

"Don't tell me, tell Sonic," explained Alexander. "He was the one who told me about all this."

Roquefort grinned widely, envy pouring into his usual mature brain. "Maybe you can do that again later on."

"Maybe," shrugged Alexander and chuckled.

That was when the mosquito thought of something else.

"Alexander, do you think we lost that cat?"

"Let's hope so, Roquefort," said Alexander, half-positive and half-doubtful.

He should have remained completely doubtful…

_**GRR…!**_

They yelped out of surprise once they heard that familiar growl.

"Oh, crap," muttered Alexander under his breath. "Looks like I may be wrong, Roquefort."

_**GRR…!**_

"I'll have to agree with you, Alexander," said Roquefort, his facial gesture looking very defensive.

_**GRRRR…!**_

Another loud growl, another vibration, and another loud gasp – it was becoming very scary.

"I think it's closing in on us," Roquefort added, his antennae twitching madly.

They backed themselves up and moved their heads back and forth, waiting for it to approach them. It would be mere moments before they had to face him. If these mere moments were not becoming both painful and nerve-wracking—

And then…

_**WHOOSH!**_

…It happened.

"Oh, _crud!"_


End file.
